WWE Underground
by J Hizzle
Summary: 3 gang leaders fight it out to become the ultimate ruler of the underground fighting industry. Chris Jericho, John Cena, Triple H. This story has got drugs, lust, betrayal, blood and all the good stuff. Full intro inside.
1. In the beginning, part 1

(A/N) I do not own any of the characters in this fan fic. They are all property of the great Vince Mcmahon and his great company.

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Introduction: Deep in the yellow underbelly of Yew York, where everything is legal if you don't get caught, 3 gangs bring the fights underground to ultimately earn respect and rule the underground fighting industry. The leaders of the gangs are Chris Jericho, Triple H and John Cena.

* * *

Chris Jericho awoke with a start. He wasn't sure what had wakened him from his alcohol induced slumber but he was certain he didn't just wake up by himself. He then heard a knock on the door. 

"Whozzit?" Jericho managed to get out with a slur.

"It's me boss. Is everything alright?" a familiar voice came back.

"Um… yeah, fine. Come in Edge."

The door opened slowly and the tall, muscular figure of one of Jericho's most trusted fighters and friend entered the run down office."

"Jesus Christ, it smells like shit in here. What the hell have you been drinking?" questioned Edge.

"None ofyah business. Now a better question would be why the fuck have you interrupted my getting pissed and passing out session?"

"Well I just thought I should let you know that one of Cena's boys has been stirring up some shit in one of our clubs."

"Mother fucker…" Chris slurred silently. "Which one?"

"Club DDP, you know the one up in the Harlem."

"Oh, that hell hole? Who did I leave in charge of that again?"

"If I'm not mistaken… Benoit."

"Right, well help me up and we'll go check it out." Jericho said to his best friend.

* * *

Music blared through various amps as the duo of Jericho and Edge entered Club DDP. Masses of people were jumping around, dancing with whoever was at hand. But what most people were doing was cheering and crowding around a wrestling ring inside a cage in the middle of the club. In which, two unknown men were fighting for their life, or more importantly, to be known. They headed directly to the staircase which lead up to the catwalk overlooking the caged ring. When they got up there, a door opened further along the walk and from it emerged the scared face of Chris Benoit a.k.a "The Crippler". Jericho and Edge entered the room and Benoit followed, closing the door behind him, dimming the noise significantly. 

"So what is the problem?" Asked Jericho as he sat down in the soft backed chair behind the desk.

"One of Cena's boys has been coming in for the last few days and has been saying shit." Replied Benoit.

"Like what?" Jericho questioned.

"Well he's been saying that John Cena has a lot more to offer, and that there is always a spot open for any fighter who wants to make a name for himself." Benoit continued cautiously.

"Damn him… did you notice anyone paying particular attention to Cena's Boy? Asked Jericho.

"Not that I noticed, but still, I think you should be wary."

"I will… So anyway is he here now? Cena's thug that is. Questioned Jericho.

"I believe so, last time I checked, he was sitting at the corner booth in the north west corner. He's with a couple of the whores." Replied Benoit.

"Alright, I'll go and confront him. By the way, who is Cena's boy?" Jericho asked as he opened the door slightly.

Chris Benoit and Edge, who was standing in the corner the whole time, exchanged nervous glances.

"Shawn Michaels…" Benoit said nervously.

Jericho stormed out of the office and slammed the door behind him.

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(A/N) So… What do you think? Is it a good concept and should I take it and run with it, or is it shit and just scrap it and leave it? Honest opinion guys, pls review whether u like it or not. 


	2. In the beginning, part 2

(A/N) Once again, I don't own, so please don't sue… I would be very unhappy. Also any names of people or clubs you see in this entire story that you recognize from somewhere else, is pure coincidence.

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"Ohhhh John yes… YES!"

"Mmmmm baby yeah… what's my name!" John Cena cried out has he thrust into his girlfriend's body. He grabbed her curvy hips to get more leverage.

"Ohhhh OHHHHH! Cena, CENA!"

"OOHHH… fuck me that was great." John Cena exclaimed as he climaxed and rolled off the naked body of his girlfriend Sable.

Cena lay on his back staring up at the ceiling of his girlfriend's posh Manhattan house. One of his girlfriends that is. He lay there fingering Sable's long blonde hair as she rested her head on his muscular chest.

"Are you going to stay the night or am I going to have to sleep by myself again?" asked Sable as she curled up under the sheets and looked pleadingly into his eyes.

"Sorry baby but I told you, I got some business to take care of."

"Damn you John!" Sable yelled as she hopped out of bed. "You always have business to take care of. Well you got me to take care of as well! And one day you are going to have to choose! Now get out of my house!" she continued starting to put on her silk nightgown.

John got out of bed without saying anything, knowing that he would be able to woo himself back into her heart later. He put on his jeans and shirt. And exited the house into the chilly night air. He put on his sweater and proceeded to flag down a cab.

* * *

As Cena was reaching his main club, The 8th Wonder, he got a call on his cell phone.

"Hello?"

"Eh, Cena! How's it goin esse?" called out the voice from the other side of the phone.

"Hey Eddie, not bad, not bad at all."

"Which one of your girlfriend's were you at tonight? Eh? Was it Stacy? Hehe, she's a fine one, or maybe Dawn?"

"Never you mind Eddie, anyway you had something to tell me? Or did you just call to piss me off, cause you're doing a damn good job at it right now"

"Alright, alright. Just chill out homes. Yeah I got something to tell you. The plan is working out just as we wanted it to. I've been sending some of our boys into Hunter's and Jericho's clubs yo. And people are starting to turn." Replied Eddie.

"Ok, good work. I'm on my way to the Wonder. I'll see you there."

"I'll have the champagne ready for you."

And as Cena sat in the musky smelling cab, looking out into the blackness of the night, he started to tear up. John Cena… the doctor of Thuganomics… crying. Not many people saw this side of John Cena. Why would they, all of them thought he had it all, the looks, the talent, all the women in the world, in the palm of his hand. All except one lady, and ironically enough, it was the only one he wanted. And as he thought of how he once had her but lost her, he continued to cry softly.

"I'm so sorry Torrie…" he muttered.

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(A/N) Double update, hope you enjoy! 


	3. In the beginning, part 3

(A/N) Once again, don't own, don't sue. Thank you.

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Four men sat facing each other at a round table. The table was made of marble. All four men wore immaculate Armani suits and crisp Hugo Boss ties. The leader of these men sat above them all. He used a higher chair purposely. So that he could look down upon his fighters. Hunter never missed a chance to remind everybody that he was the boss.

"So H, what is the plan of attack?" said a white haired man sitting across from him.

"I dunno Ric, why don't you tell me, you are the brains behind this whole operation." Hunter shot back at his best friend.

"I think we should hit them silently, and where it hurts the most. We should go straight for their clubs." Called out the massive man who sat on Hunter's left named Batista a.k.a "The Animal".

"I think you should shut up! I didn't ask for your opinion. I don't pay you to think either, I pay you to hurt people. So leave the thinking to us big boys ok?"

"Well I say we go at them head on, let them know we are coming for them. Call them out, and when they do come out, we pick them off one by one. WOOOOO!" suggested Ric with a little flair at the end. (hehehe great pun use I might add)

"Now that sounds more like a well thought out plan." Hunter said as he shot a glance at Batista. "So is everything set for tonight?" asked Hunter.

"You betcha H, I got my man ready for his fight against Cena tonight. We should be making big bucks on this one." Flair said to Hunter with big grin plastered on his face.

"Good. I want everything ready by 11p.m tonight. At 11:30 you can come to my place and pick me up in the limo." Hunter said as he rose from his chair and made his way to the door of his sparkling office at his club Evolution.

"Randy, I want you to gather up the soldiers, and tell them to be here tomorrow at 9 p.m sharp." Hunter said addressing the other man in the room, a young, good looking male.

"Sure thing boss. Where you off to now?" asked Randy.

"To see Torrie, hehe. Remember, don't come by before 11:30… I'll be busy." Hunter said as he winked at the trio standing before him.

* * *

Back at Hunter's mansion in upper class Manhattan, Torrie was working furiously away in the kitchen. She was preparing dinner for a sure to be hungry Hunter, her boyfriend. She would cook him up a storm, in hopes of filling Hunter up so that she could have a day off in bed. For days on end, Hunter had been giving it to her, and giving it to her hard every night, and she was starting to feel used, and very tired of her relationship. She then heard the doorbell and put down her cooking mitts and took off her apron and proceeded to the door. She peered into the spy glass and saw Hunter in his suit with a big smile. She unlocked the two locks and pulled open the wooden door with the sheet of bullet proof glass inside. Hunter bounded in and took Torrie roughly in his large arms. She placed a soft kiss on his lips.

"Uuummmm, something smells nice. What's for dinner, I'm starved." Hunter said, releasing her from his bear like hug and making his way to the dining table.

"Oh, nothing fancy."

"Well, bring it on. And hurry women before I die of starvation."

"Now we wouldn't want that now would we…?" Torrie muttered under her breath, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

As Hunter ate, Torrie thought. She thought back to the days when she was really happy. Not that she was very unhappy now. She had jewels, a mansion, a Porsche. Everything she wanted when she was with her old boyfriend but couldn't have. Everything she wanted… or at least thought she wanted. And as she pictured her old boyfriend's smiling face, she couldn't help but feel a little sad. But still, he had hurt her bad. So bad she thought of killing herself. But then Hunter entered the scene. At the time, he looked like her knight in shining armor, her breath of fresh air in a world so polluted. Hunter would never hurt her like that thug John Cena did. Would he?

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(A/N) Hey guys, keep reviewing… cmon. I rely on your reviews to keep this story going. Hehehe. But anyway really guys… REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! 


	4. An old friend

(A/N) C'mon guys, you should know by now. I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story. They all belong to themselves and to Mr. McMahon to some extent. By the way, keep on reviewing and tell me whether I should continue this story. I don't want to waste my time on a lost cause. Thanks guys. On with the story.

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"Hey! Wait up Jericho!" Yelled Edge as he ran after his friend.

"Why the fuck didn't you tell me it was that son of a bitch earlier?" Jericho shot back, still walking swiftly on the catwalk.

"You didn't ask! Besides I didn't want to tell you because I knew you would react like this. Now just stop for a second and hear me out!"

"I'm gonna kill that little bitch right here and now." Jericho muttered more to himself, than to Edge as he kept up his swift pace.

"Listen." Edge said as he grabbed hold of Jericho's arm. "You can't just go over there and stab him. Cops will be swarming all over this place in a matter of seconds. It will be bad for business. And besides, what will killing him solve? Huh! Killing Michaels won't bring him back to life Jericho. Use your head."

"I know it won't bring him back to life, but it will make me feel a whole lot better." Said Jericho vehemently as he tried to break free of Edge's grip. But he was starting to see his point.

"Look, I got a better idea. Cena wants to recruit some fighters right? Well we will let him have them. We will send someone trustworthy over to pretend to defect to his side, and we will destroy him from the inside, out." Suggested Edge out of desperation.

"Alright fine. Another day Michaels, I'll let you live another day…" Jericho whispered to himself.

"C'mon, let's go back into Benoit's office. Well sort out this plan of ours." Edge said leading Jericho back to the office.

* * *

So as Edge explained his plan to Benoit, Jericho sat on the old, leather sofa in the far left side of the room with a glass of whisky in his hand. And as he drank, he thought. He tried to push Shawn Michaels out of his head but he just couldn't. Almost every night for the last 6 months, Jericho has been having the same dream over and over again. Reliving the same night over and over again. Tonight was no different. So as he drank his whisky and sat in the old leather sofa that smelled odd, he went back to that night, 6 months ago…

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(A/N) sorry bout the short chapter, I've just got too much on my mind at the moment. Btw to ravenstyles27… you are just going to have to read on to find out wont you? Hehe but at the moment, no mention has been made about a gf for Jericho. 


	5. Unexpected guests

(A/N) Hey guys, thanks for all the reviews. I'm moving on swiftly. Forget all that legal mumbo jumbo, you guys should know by know. And besides Mr. McMahon can sue for all he wants, he'll get nothing… ARE YOU WITH ME!

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Cena wiped his eyes dry and hoped out of the cab after paying the fee. He stood looking at all the bright neon lights coming from a sign that illuminated the dark street. The sign read "The 8th Wonder", and as Cena stared at his main club, he felt a wave of weariness sweep over him. For he knew he was in for a long night. He trudged on, taking the three steps that lead up to the metal door all at once. The two bouncers standing on either side of the door nodded in acknowledgement and one of them opened the door. Loud music came blaring out, piercing the cold, quiet night as John hurried in, eager to get out of the cold. He pushed his way through the masses of people on the dance floor. He eventually got to the stage at the back of the club, where DJ Booker was playing the music. He made his way behind the stage and through a door which had the sign "Authorized Personnel Only". As the door behind him shut, the noise stopped and he found himself in a corridor. He continued to walk, his footsteps creating an eerie echo. He then opened the door to his right and stepped into his office.

"Eh bro." Eddie Guerrero said as he got up off Cena's plush chair and went and gave Cena a hug.

"You feeling alright homes? You look a little out of it, you know?" Eddie asked.

"Yeah man, fine. Now let's get down to business, we got a lot to do tonight, am I right?"

"Actually, not really. Me and Rey Rey did most of the work for you. We organized the fights, the main events for tonight and tomorrow night, did all the paperwork, calculations and everything. The only thing you gotta do is win the fight tonight. Eddie said. John Cena did a lot of fighting for his gang. After all, he prided himself on leading by example. Because of this, his gang respected him.

"Wow, you guys did all of that? Thanks a thousand man." Cena said giving Eddie another hug. "Where is Rey anyways?"

"Down on the dance floor." Eddie replied.

"Right you better get down there too. Have some fun. I'll be up here getting ready for my fight. How much money did you say was on this fight?" Cena questioned as he poured himself a glass of water.

"I didn't say… but seeing your opponent is with Hunter, I wouldn't be surprised if the figures rose up to 6 digits homes."

"Right. Easy money baby, easy money. Now go. Go pick up some bitches, have yourself a good time." Said Cena, downing his glass of ice cold water.

"Alright homes, I'll be up in an hour to tape you up for the fight."

"Ok, see you then." Cena replied as he sat down in his plush chair with another glass of water. He tried to calm his nerves but he had an uneasy feeling. He couldn't pick up on the source of this feeling but he had no doubt it was there. Something was making him feel edgy.

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen! Please clear the dance floor for tonight's scheduled fight yo." The DJ said through his loudspeaker. "Let me remind you of the rules and regulations. There will be no interfering with the fight. That means no punching, kicking, biting, grabbing or hindering any of the fighters at all times. No throwing of projectiles. However feel free to be as vocal as you want. Also if a competitor gets pushed into you, feel free to push them back into the centre of the ring. If the police show up however, the exits are through the front and the two side doors at the back corners and it is every man and women for themselves. Now can you dig that! If you can't, well then you can piss off to yo momma right now cause this aint no place for the weak ya hear!" Booker's voice thundered through the whole club. As he was stating the rules for the fight, people proceeded to form a large circle in the centre of the club.

"Now with all the ground rules out in the open, let me introduce tonight's main event. It will be a one on one fight. There will be no pins allowed. The fight will continue until your opponent says stop or if the referee deems that he is too fucked up to continue. No shots to the sacred area. Other than that, raking of the eyes, pulling of the hair, banging of heads onto the ground is welcome and encouraged." With that the crowd gave a cheer of approval.

"Now without further a due, representing the glamorous Triple H… the not so glamorous… Gene Snitsky!"

Gene Snitsky, a tall, ugly looking man with a dirty goatee pushed his way into the fight circle. The people booed and slagged him as he walked through the crowd.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen. It is my honor to introduce to you tonight, Gene Snitsky's opponent at the 8th Wonder, the self proclaimed 8th wonder of the world… JOOOOHHHN CEEENAAA!" the DJ yelled into his loudspeaker. The crowd roared as John Cena made his way to the circle. The crowd parted for him like the red sea and people were climbing on top of each other to give Cena a good luck pat on the back. The referee followed behind Cena and called both men to the centre.

"Now boys, I want a good clean fight. No punches or kicks of any sort to the groin area, all else is go." Said the ref, addressing both of the men. The two men backed off to the separate sides. Then, out of the corner of his eye, John Cena saw the main door open and 5 people step into the club. Hunter stepped in first, followed by his henchmen Dave Batista, Ric Flair and Randy Orton. But the person who drew his attention out of all of them was the 5th person, the women Hunter had his arm wrapped around… Torrie Wilson.

"Let the fight begin!"

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(A/N) OH MY! I'm exited! Hehe, thanks a lot for all the reviews guys. I love you all. You have inspired me to continue. Thanks a million! 


	6. The beating at the 8th Wonder

(A/N) Don't own, don't sue… blah blah blah. I've dealt with pressing issues on my mind so now I can concentrate on the story. Been on a roll lately, reeling in three chapters in succession. Holiday is almost over for me down under though so expect less frequent updates. Sorry but it is not my fault. Blame the damn government. Hehe.

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"Mmmmm mmmmm mmmm. That was delicious baby." Hunter said to Torrie.

"Uhh what? Oh sorry. Yeah, I'm glad you liked it." Torrie replied, with a far away look in her eyes, obviously thinking of something else.

"Yeah well, now that the main course is done, let's get onto the dessert baby!" said Hunter with a mischievous grin on his face.

"Oh, but I'm really tired honey. C'mon, I worked really hard to make dinner for you, give me a break tonight alright?" Torrie protested.

"NO! Not alright. I worked damn hard to give you your Porsche, your diamonds, your mansion, now frankly, I don't give a damn how exhausted you are, you are going to get in bed with me, and you are going to love it."

Torrie knew she couldn't argue with her boyfriend so she reluctantly got out of her chair and made her way upstairs to the bedroom.

"Hehe, that's right honey. I knew you would see things my way. Now you go get freshened up. I'll join you in a second."

Torrie trudged up the stairs and walked into the bathroom. She started to undress and untied her hair, letting the long blonde locks fall freely down her back. She put on a bath robe and went back to the bed where Hunter was waiting for her. Hunter already removed his shirt and was working on his belt.

"Damn it, I hate this fucking belt. I can never get it off. Can you help?" Hunter asked Torrie.

Not very romantic Torrie thought to herself. "Yeah, sure."

As soon as Hunter got his pants of he pounced on Torrie, removing her bathrobe and throwing it on the ground. He stared at her in amazement, at how perfect her body was and started to make love to her. Torrie however, had other things on her mind and didn't really get into it as much as Hunter.

"C'mon baby, oooh yeah." Hunter was grunting so loudly, that his neighbours could hear. He continued to give it to her hard and fast and after ten minutes, she had no choice but to give in and she came at the same time as her boyfriend. Hunter climbed off the naked, sweaty body of Torrie and lay on his back, arms across his chest.

"Damn that was twice as good as the dinner." Hunter exclaimed. "Well time to go."

"Go where?" Torrie asked, even more tired than before.

"We, my lady, are going to a club." Hunter replied, sitting on the side of the bed, putting on his pants.

"But I am really tired. I just want to sleep." Torrie argued.

"Oh c'mon now, there is plenty of time to sleep after. Besides it would really mean a lot to me if you accompanied me." Hunter said, turning around and facing his girlfriend looking into her eyes.

"Oh alright you sook. Only because I cannot resist your damn puppy dog eyes." Torrie eclaimed, beaten.

"Yes! Now the limo will come to pick us up in about ten, so you got nine minutes to get dressed and down there. I'll be waiting for you." Said Hunter as he bounded out of the room and down the stairs.

* * *

"Hey pretty lady, you look beautiful as always." Ric Flair stated, getting out of the limo to help Torrie in. Torrie just smiled at him.

"Hands off Flair, shes mine!" Hunter said with a chuckle.

"Hey Torrie." Came the voices of the other two of Hunter's main men, Randy and Dave.

"Hi boys." Torrie replied, looking at Dave in particular. For he was the only one of Hunter's henchmen that she really didn't mind. Ric was nice and all, but he kept on hitting on her, and it was starting to freak her out. And Randy was just plain arrogant.

"Well Hunter, are we ready to be off?" Asked Randy from the drivers seat.

"Yeah man. Let's go go go!"

When they reached the club, Triple H got out and helped Torrie out. Randy put the car in park and hopped out. Dave and Ric both got out from the back.

"8th wonder huh? Nice." Torrie exclaimed.

"Nothing compared to "Club Evolution" though." Hunter said.

"Oh, well of course." Torrie said.

The five of them climbed the three steps and made their way into the club past the bouncers. Torrie looked around at the surroundings, not really paying any attention to the main attraction in the centre of the club. Hunter ushered her to one of the booths and all five of them sat down. Torrie tried to get a look at what everyone was cheering at but couldn't quite see above all the people. She started to stand up when she saw a familiar face.

"Eh Torrie! What are you doing here mama cita?"

"Eddie, nice to see you too." Torrie replied.

"You know this joker?" Hunter said, giving Torrie a skeptical look.

"Uhhh. Yeah. Old friends." Torrie said quickly.

"Hey Torrie you shouldn't be here you know. I don't want you to see him get hurt." Eddie said talking to Torrie and totally ignoring the other four people sitting with her.

"Hey stop talking to my girl and deal with the situation at hand alright. I've got 200 grand on my man to beat the living crap outta your boy Cena." Hunter said addressing Eddie.

Torrie jumped in her seat at the sound of the name and the context in which it was used in. Eddie shot a glance at Torrie. Torrie then realized what everyone was cheering about and why she ran into Eddie. She stood up slowly, fearing the worst, and the worst was confirmed. She saw John getting pummeled by a huge, beastly looking man. She sat down again and rested her head in her hands.

"You ok Torrie?" Eddie asked, obviously concerned.

"Hey jackass. I said stop talking to my girlfriend. Now are the bets on?"

"Yeah. Sure, whatever." Eddie replied, shooting another quick glance at Torrie and then walking away.

"Hey what is wrong with you?" Hunter asked Torrie.

"Nothing. I told you. I'm tired."

"Alright. You stay here then. Dave, you stay as well. Keep an eye on her. Randy, Ric, lets go get a closer look." Hunter said getting up from his seat and making his way to the fight.

* * *

John Cena was in shock. He didn't expect to see her here.

"Torrie… What the fuck are you doing here?" he muttered to himself.

Just then he felt a huge fist colliding with his face. It caught him square on the cheek. The force of the punch sent him flying into the crowd. They caught him before he fell, and helped him back on his feet. The large Snitsky then came bounding in. He grabbed Cena by his head and threw him into the ground. He then sat on top of him and started pounding his face in. The viscous assault continued for five minutes, with Cena mounting no type of offence. He just couldn't get his mind off Torrie. Snitsky then picked Cena's bloodied and battered body off the floor and lifted him over his head and threw him into the crowd. The referee then decided to end the match, declaring Gene Snitsky the obvious winner. The crowd booed the decision as the ref went to tend to John.

Cena was still semi conscious. Everything was a fuzzy to him. He could hear no sound. Figures came as a blur to him. He felt himself being lifted up. He didn't really care anymore. His whole body ached. But his heart ached the most. He longed for Torrie's healing touch once again.

* * *

(A/N) Aaawwww. I'm about to cry. John was beaten bad. But can he bounce back. Can he get over Torrie? Can Torrie get over him? THE SUSPENSE IS KILLING ME! 


	7. 6 months ago

(A/N) Hey guys. Thank a lot for all the reviews so far. You guys have been great. Let's recap what has happened to Y2J Chris Jericho since we haven't heard from him in a while. Well he was awaken from his drunken stupor, dragged down to one of his notorious clubs, informed that one of Cena's thugs has been stirring things up and has found out that the thug is Shawn Michaels. After that bit of info Jericho has been acting weird, and now, he is about to slip of into the dreamland…

* * *

6 months ago…

"Hey Rick, where you off to bro?" Jericho called after his older brother who was about to walk out of the door of their single story flat in the rough parts of Manhattan. The house was quite old and shabby. It's not as though Rick and his brother Chris couldn't afford a better house, it was because their sick and slowly passing mother refused to move out of their current house, arguing that there was too much sentimental value. The Jericho household had been passed down quite a few generations. So Rick and Chris decided to stay with their mother until, god forbid, she passed away.

"Never you mind Chris. You just worry about ma. Remember to give her her meds. She's got them due in about 20 minutes ok?" Rick replied, trying to change to subject.

"Yeah, yeah I know. But don't leave me in the dark. You know I hate it. I want you to involve me in all the family stuff as well." By family, Chris meant the other family. The gang that his brother Rick had build with the help of Chris. The gang had basically become the Jericho brothers' second family.

"Chris, commere." Rick said, calling his younger brother over to him. "I know you are eager to get into all this gang business full on. But you know how mom hates it. I mean I can still see the resentment in her eyes when she talks to me, because I dragged you into this."

"But you didn't drag me into this Rick. I joined willingly." Chris argued.

"I know, I know. But that is not what ma thinks. Now don't take this the wrong way. You are very able to hold your own against the roughest and toughest, but I just don't want anything bad to happen to my kid brother ok? Trust me, you will get your chance."

"Yeah alright." Chris said with a defeated tone in his voice.

"Good. Now I will see you later tonight." Rick said as he grabbed a briefcase on the ground, next to the hat stand and opened the door.

"Yeah see you then." Chris replied. "Oh and Rick…"

"Yeah?"

"Don't call me kid brother again. You and I both know that I could kick your ass any day of the week." Chris said with a cheeky grin as he started to go into the kitchen.

"Hahahaha. Good joke kid brother. I said you were good. Not amazing, which is what you have to be to beat me kiddo." Rick retorted as he quickly walked out the door and shut it behind him swiftly so his brother couldn't come back with a reply.

* * *

As Rick Jericho sat driving his Mercedes Benz convertible, he got a call on his cell phone. He answered his cell with one hand still on the wheel.

"Yeah?"

"Hey is this Rick?" the voice on the phone said.

"Yeah this is Rick. Who is this?" Rick asked back.

"Hey Rick. It's your boy Shawn."

"Oh hey Michaels. Good work with changing your voice. Can never be too careful nowadays eh." Rick said to his friend and gang member Shawn Michaels.

"Right on buddy. Hey is everything set?" Michaels asked.

"You know it. I got the money right next to me, and I am on my way to the agreed destination." Rick said.

"Ok man. I am also on my way." Michaels replied.

"Good. Hey Michaels, this is gonna be huge man. I can feel it."

"I know. It'll be the biggest thing we have ever done. If we pull this off, we will be set for life. Then Chris can run the gang, and me and you can retire and go off to Hawaii or something."

"Hahaha. Yeah. Hey thanks for backing me up on this idea man. I knew I could trust you. When we pull this off, we will enjoy the fruits of our labor while all the other guys will still have to fight for their money." Rick said.

"Yeah. No problem Ricko. I'll see you there ok?"

"Yeah… See you there."

* * *

"Hello?"

"Hey Cena. It's me."

"Oh hey."

"Where are you now?"

"I'm on my way."

"Ok good. Just making sure. I'm on my way as well."

"Have you confirmed everything?"

"Yup. Everything is set."

"Ok good work dogg."

"Thanks. Hopefully everything will go as planned."

"Oh trust me. It will. Don't you worry about that. I got everything under control."

"So you got the stuff right?"

"Does it matter?"

"Oh… guess not."

"Stop stressing man. You are with the doc. After tonight, we will have the dope, the money, and Rick will have no clue what just hit him. By the time he comes round, we will be long gone. So as you can see you have got nothing to worry about man. And after tonight… you my friend, will officially be part of my crew."

"Yeah… I guess you are right."

"We will be living the good life, me and you."

"Yeah alright. So I'll see you soon."

"Yeah see yah Shawn Michaels…"

* * *

(A/N) Oh my, what a development. What is going to go down at the scene of the crime. Tune in next time to find out! Oh and sorry for the wait. 


	8. Another flashback

(A/N) Hey guys. Sorry to keep you waiting but I have just been bogged down lately. I have got tons of homework. Plus sport almost everyday. The only time I get to write this is during the weekends when I'm not working on about a million assignments or playing rugby or waterpolo. So chapters from now on are going to be coming up relatively slower. Sorry guys.

* * *

For the next few hours after the severe beating that Cena went through, he slipped in and out of consciousness. He had lost quite a lot of blood. John started to open his eyes again and he saw two familiar faces looking at him. Eddie's and Rey's. They both looked quite concerned.

"Hey esse, how are you doing?" Rey Mysterio asked.

"Not too good." Cena managed to squeeze out.

"You took quite a beating out there." Eddie said, still with the concerned look on his face.

"How much..?"

"How much what Cena?" Eddie asked back.

"How much m… money?"

"Did we loose?" Eddie asked for confirmation.

"Yeah."

"Um… well. We lost 50 grand upfront." Eddie said, finally delivered the damage. John closed his eyes.

"Hey but don't worry bro, We'll get it back." Mysterio said trying to comfort Cena. "Right now, all you need is some rest. Me and Eddie are going to go help clean up the place ok?"

John just nodded, too tired to open his mouth. His whole body ached. John then slipped back into a half sleep, half unconsciousness.

* * *

Torrie kept her head in her hands. She didn't want to watch her ex boyfriend fight. She didn't really approve of it. It's not that she wasn't afraid. She had witnessed many street brawls and rough underground fights in her time with Cena, but she hated watching the people she cared about get hurt. What was she thinking… she didn't care for John anymore. John Cena, the street thug was in her past. She had to get over him and move on. But she couldn't. Deep down she knew she still had feelings for him.

"Hey you alright?" came a gruff voice.

"Huh? Oh yeah… I'm just really tired." Torrie replied as she looked up and into the eyes of Dave Batista.

"I don't think that is it Torrie. You know Hunter thinks I'm pretty thick, but I can tell when people are not telling the whole truth."

"Hunter thinks you are thick? Well that's just plain bullshit. I think you are a very smart man Dave." Torrie said flashing one of her killer smiles.

"Don't try and change the subject Torrie. You know, you can trust me. Whatever you have to say you can say to me. I won't tell Hunter. Even though Hunter never gives me a chance to speak anyway. It's better to get it off your chest than to keep it inside." Dave said. Torrie really wanted to tell Dave that John was her ex boyfriend. She sorely wanted to tell him about the time when John hurt her so bad.

"Really Dave, it's nothing. I'm just tired ok? Now I would like to get some rest so could to take my back to the limo."

"Yeah, alright." Dave replied as he got up. Torrie followed suit. She put on her coat and started to follow Dave out of the noisy club. She took one more quick glance at the fight and she could barely make out Cena's bloodied and battered figure. She then saw Hunter cheering his ugly looking fighter on. A blood thirsty, carnivorous look in his eyes. Torrie turned away and continued to walk out into the chilly night.

* * *

"Yeah! Go!" Hunter yelled over the crowd.

"Ha ha! Ric! Your guy is doing great! Where did you find this beast?" Randy yelled into Ric's ear.

"Oh… Just picked him up off the street. Gave him a few fine tuning lessons."

"You sure know how to spot talent Ric. Ooooohh… good shot!"Hunter exclaimed.

Hunter, Ric and Randy had pushed their way to the front of the crowd and were watching Gene Snitsky beat the living hell out of Cena.

"OK SNITSKY! HURRY AND FINISH HIM OFF ALREADY! NO MORE FUCKING AROUND!" Hunter barked the orders to his fighter.

Snitsky did as he was told and with one huge toss, threw Cena into the crowd. The referee called an end to the match and Hunter's boy Snitsky officially won the match. Hunter, Ric and Randy walked into the circle to congratulate the monstrous man.

"Haha! You did great big guy. You picked that thug apart! I loved it! H loved it! Randy loved it. Hell everyone loved it! WOOOOO!" Ric said giving Snitsky an encouraging slap on the back.

"Yeah you did good. But don't get too ahead of yourself." Hunter said. "You gonna say anything big guy?"

"That… that was fun." Snitsky growled.

"Um… yeah… ok. Let's go and celebrate. We'll go grab Dave and Torrie and go back to Club Evolution for a real party." Said Hunter.

The three made their way back to their booth. When they got there, they saw Batista, but not Torrie.

"Where the fuck is my girl?" Hunter asked Dave.

"She's in the limo. She said she was sleepy so I took her to the Stretch to sleep." Dave replied.

"Well why the fuck didn't you stay with her like I told you to!" Hunter said louder, on the verge of screaming.

"Well I thought…"

"Can't you do one thing right you oaf? Or are you as dumb as everyone says you are?" Hunter continued.

"Hey, Hunter man. Chill. Let's just go back to the limo and hit the club ok?" Randy said, coming to Batista's rescue.

"Ok, let's go then." Hunter said moving off towards the door. "Oh one more thing. HEY EDDIE! I'M EXPECTING MY MONEY BY 12 NOON TOMORROW. IF IT IS NOT AT MY HOUSE BY THEN, I'LL COME LOOKING FOR YOUR SORRY ASS ESSE!" Hunter yelled across the club.

Eddie just gave Hunter a dirty stare and walked off to tend to his friend Cena. Hunter and the gang finally made their way out of The 8th Wonder.

* * *

Cena opened his eyes again. He sat up and suddenly regretted it. He immediately felt very dizzy and thought he was going to pass out again. He looked around at his surroundings. He was at Eddie's house. He glanced over at the bedside table where the alarm clock was. 8:37am. He must have slept past the night. Just then Eddie walked in.

"Hey esse, how are you feeling?"

"Not fantastic. But better." Cena replied.

"Good, good. You want anything? Breakfast?" Eddie asked.

"Nah man, I'm not hungry."

"Ok. You need anything just say ok?"

"Yeah alright." Cena said. He suddenly slammed his clenched fists down onto the bed, remembering the money that he had lost.

"Hey man. Don't worry about last night. You win some, you lose some homes. Don't beat yourself up over one small loss." Eddie said.

"I don't know what came over me man. I just wasn't concentrating. It was fucken Torrie Wils…" He stopped suddenly, not wanting to talk about her.

"Hey. What's going on between you two man? You never talk to me about her. Are you two over, still together? What?"

"We are over."

"Well then why you still thinking about her."

"I'm not."

"Then why were you saying her name over and over last night."

"I was?"

"Yeah. You kept on saying: Torrie, Torrie, I'm so sorry, please forgive me, while you slept. Forgive you for what man?"

"It's nothing, lets just drop it."

"No. You have to tell me. We are familia. C'mon bro. I can help you. But you gotta tell me what happened."

"Ok, ok. Fine. If it will get you off my case. It all happened about 4 months ago…"

* * *

(A/N) Hmmmm… another flashback. What happened that made Torrie and John split up? Will telling someone finally help Cena get over it? 


	9. See you in hell

(A/N) Hey guys. Been a while eh… Well sorry for the wait but like I said, ive been busy. I'll try to get chapters up quicker but for now, just enjoy the story.

* * *

Rick eased his foot off the accelerator as he turned into a smaller, street. He glided over the rough roadwork of a deserted alley. He made a couple more turns and parked his car just out side a small café. The café was closed of course, seeing it was 10:30 at night and it was pitch black. He grabbed the briefcase out of the back and pressed a button and his roofless convertible became a coupe sports car. He hopped out of his Merc and walked onto the pavement. He looked at his surroundings, taking everything in with his photographic memory. He walked along the pavement and into a small deserted ally. The ally wreaked of rotten garbage. He continued cautiously along until he reached a junction. From where he stood, he noticed four points of exit. Incase anything went wrong, he needed a quick get away. The ally continued straight ahead, another wider alley intersected the narrow one, giving him another two exits, and then of course, there was the way he came from. Rick waited around for about five minutes when he heard the noise of a car stopping straight ahead of him. Two doors opened, and two doors shut. Footsteps could now be heard coming his way. Just then he heard another car stop on his left. One door opened and then shut again.

"Hey Rick." Cena called out, walking straight towards him. Cena was lugging a fairly large sized suitcase behind him.

"Cena." He acknowledged. "I see you have brought Eddie along with you."

"Never go anywhere without him." Cena replied slapping his friend on the back.

"Would that include your bed?"

"Hey, drop the wise ass act okay? I'm here strictly for business. Just like I was last week when I kicked your ass all over the Bronx and back." Cena shot back.

Rick cringed at the remark, feeling the small cut over his eye, courtesy of Cena.

"So where is your boy Michaels? Or is he a no show?" Cena asked.

"No. He'll be here. In fact I think he should be coming very soon."

Then as if on cue, Michaels walked into the middle of the junction. He stopped, shot a glance at Cena, then walked over next to Rick."

"So… we are all here now, let's get down to business." Cena said.

"Show me yours and I'll show you mine." Rick replied.

"Fine have it your way." Cena lay his suitcase on it's side. He bent down, unzipped the suitcase and lifted the cover. Rick stood there looking at what must have been three kilos of ecstasy pills. Cena looked up at Rick.

"Ok, now you."

Rick held his briefcase up in two hands. He unlocked the combination lock that was integrated into the briefcase and lifted the lid. Inside the briefcase was 25 thousand dollars in mostly 100 dollar bills. All sequential.

"Alright here is how it's going to work. You give your briefcase to Michaels who will walk over here and hand it to me. I'll give my suitcase to Eddie and he will bring it over to you. You check the pills, I'll check the money. We all leave happy customers. Agreed?" Cena proposed his idea to Rick.

"Sounds fair." Rick replied. He handed his briefcase to Shawn. Shawn then made his way over to Cena as Eddie walked over to Rick with the suitcase. Cena took the briefcase from Shawn and started ruffling through the money, counting the piles of hundreds. Rick bent down. He pulled out a switch blade from inside his sock and cut open a bag of ecstasy. He took a pill and scraped some of it off onto his finger with his knife. He tasted the powder to check its authenticity. It tasted right to him. Rick then stood up.

"Drop the knife esse." Rick heard from his left. He turned his head slowly to see a long cylinder staring at him. Eddie pointed silenced glock pistol at him.

"I said drop it right now or you'll have a hole in your face." Eddie said.

Rick did as he was told. He then raised his hands above his head. He turned and looked at Shawn. He stood there staring at what was going down with a look of confusion on his face.

"Now no smart moves Rick and you won't get hurt. I'm going to walk over to you pick up my briefcase. You are going to walk over to the wall over there and place your hands on the wall. Eddie is going to search you for any guns. Once all that is done, we are going to walk out of here, and you can go on living your life as normal. Now go." Cena said, laying down the rules.

Rick made his way to the wall on his left and put his hands on the wall. He felt the cylindrical silencer on the back of his skull. With the other free hand, Eddie began to feel for any weapons. When he had finish patting him down, Eddie turned around to call out to his friend. The split second was all Rick needed as he whipped around, connecting his elbow, hard into Eddie's jaw. With Eddie doubled over in pain, Rick grabbed his wrist and with one sharp twist, broke it. The gun clattered to the floor as Rick picked it up swiftly and aimed it at Cena. Eddie was on the ground, clutching at his broken wrist. Rick backed away from Eddie and walked over to Michaels.

"Okay now here is how it is really going to go down. You drag your ass out of here along with you buddy over there without the drugs or the dough, and we will all go back to living our normal lives again." Rick said to Cena.

"Sorry, but I can't let that happen. Besides you are out numbered." Cena remarked.

"What do you mean…" Rick started, but he then realized that Michaels had backed away from him and now had a gun of his own pointed at his chest.

"What the hell is going on here Shawn?" Rick asked, trying to keep his cool.

"Sorry buddy, just a change of heart." Shawn said, the gun, also with a silencer steady in his hands.

"Mother fucker… and I thought I could trust you." Rick said, still with his gun on Cena.

"Hey, it's like you said. You can never be too careful."

"You slimy little grease ball bitch. Why don't you drop the weapon and fight me like a man you pussy. Or did Cena accidentally bite your nuts off while he was sucking them you fuck…" Two gunshots had interrupted Rick mid sentance. The gunshots, reduced to the sound of spits. One came from Michael's gun and had struck Rick in the shoulder. The other from Ricks gun, came half a second later and just missed Cena's head.

"AAAAHHHHHGGGGG!" Rick's scream pierced the quiet night. The gun fell from his hand. Shawn hurried over and kicked it out of reach.

"Oh god damn that was close. Good looking out dogg." Cena said to Shawn. "Okay pick up Eddie's gun and let's get the hell out of here.

"Well, well, well. After all those years of me having to look up to you, Look who is looking down on who now punk." Shawn said to Rick who was on the ground, holding his shoulder, trying to stop the blood which was pouring out.

"You little bitch. I should have known. I had seen that look of greed in your eyes once before. I shouldn't have dismissed it." Rick said.

"See, that is your problem Rick. You always try and see the good in people. And even when you do see evil, you think nothing of it. Well looks like it has come back to bite you." Shawn replied.

Cena had taken all the money out of the briefcase and put it in the luggage with the pills. He zipped up the suitcase and stood up.

"Cmon Shawn. Let's bounce before anyone comes."

"Well Rick, convince me why I shouldn't take your life right here and now." Shawn said.

"Go ahead, put one in my head right now. I don't give a shit. I'll be waiting for you in hell mother fucker." Rick said as he spat on Shawn's pants.

"You little cock sucker… YOU ARE GOING TO DIE!" Shawn yelled.

"Woah cool it bro. Cmon don't do anything stupid." Cena said trying to calm Shawn down. Just then, Rick grabbed Shawn's leg and bit hard through the pants. Shawn yelled in pain as he kicked him off. Shawn then kicked Rick in the ribs. Rick started to gasp for air as he fought for his life, the blood draining from his body by the gallons. Shawn then grabbed Rick's hair and put the gun on his forehead.

"Fine, have it your way. I'll see you in hell."

Shawn pulled the trigger.


	10. Grim sightings

(A/N) Whew, it has been a while. Well I got some good news and bad news. The good news is that my exams are over and I should be able to get chapters up quicker, right? Wrong. This is where the bad news kicks in. I'm going on holiday soon and I won't have access to my computer for about 2 weeks, so no story during that period. Real sorry about this guys but once I get back, I promise I'll get down to it. For now, just enjoy. (BTW this is still Jericho's flashback.)

* * *

"Who is it?" Chris Jericho called out, approaching the door.

"It's me man. Adam."

Chris acknowledged that by opening the door and greeting his friend.

"Hey Edge. What is going on?" Chris always called Adam Edge.

"Not much. Hey where is Rick?" Edge inquired.

"Not here."

"Yeah I can see that but where?"

"How the fuck am I supposed to know. You know how he always leaves me out of big deals. Why? Should he be here?"

"No, he should have been at the club like an hour ago with Shawn. Since he didn't turn up, I thought he might have came back here." Edge replied.

"Nah. He left the house around 8:30 but hasn't been back here since. Why? What's going on?" Jericho asked.

"I don't know the full story, so you should ask your brother later. I'll see you around." Edge said as he turned around and began to leave.

"Oh no you don't." Jericho said as he grabbed Edge's arm. "Rick never tells me shit. I'll just hear what you know. Go on, spill the beans." Jericho persisted.

"Look, all I know is that Rick had something big planned. A deal or some shit, I don't know the particulars. He emphasized that it was big though. Him and Shawn was supposed to meet Cena and they were supposed to call in at the club no later than 11:00."

"And you are sure they ain't there?"

"Yup, they did not come in all night."

"Well let's go back to the club. Maybe they came in when you left."

"Ok then, let's roll."

* * *

Chris and Edge arrived at Rick's club, "Spice". They entered through the highly decorated front entrance, the lights almost blinding them. The music was still blaring and the people were still flowing into the late hours of the night. Jericho and Edge pushed pass the masses of bodies to get to Rick's office at the back of the club. When they entered the office Chris saw a nervous looking Christian, pacing the room.

"Hey bro" Edge greeted his brother.

"Edge, Jericho. Am I glad to see both of you. Well not really. Well actually I am, but under the circumstances, it sorta changes things. Man, Adam you left at the worse of times, And Chris, man have I got some bad news for you… I mean…"

"Woah, woah, woah, slow it down Christian. We got all the time in the world, no need to hurry. Now tell me, what is going on." Jericho said, calming a frantic Christian down.

"Ok then, if you insist. Chris, the coppers just called. Your bro was in an accident. A bad one."

"Let's go." Was all Chris said as he walked out of the office."

* * *

"Hey, where do you think you are going sir?" The uniformed officer said to Chris as he tried to cross the police tape.

"That's my brother man. Now get the hell outta my way before you lose your teeth fuck head." Chris replied viciously.

"I'm sorry sir, but I am under direct orders to not let anyone past this tape, and I would suggest you change your tone with me as well sir." The pompous cop replied, pointing to his police badge.

"I would suggest you get your fat head out of my way bitch." Chris retaliated as he stepped under the tape. The cop grabbed Chris by the shirt, and Chris was about to take a swing at the cop when a voice called out.

"Woah, hold up! It's ok Jackson. Let the man through." The detective in charge called out to the cop. "I don't want any trouble here. Let him through."

The cop reluctantly let go of Chris' shirt and Chris jerked his fist forward as if to take a swing at his face. Officer Jackson stumbled back. Chris shot him a dirty stare and followed the detective at his request.

"I understand you are Rick Jericho's brother?" The detective asked.

"Yeah. Chris."

"Would you like to see the body, just to identify that it actually is your brother."

"Yeah, whatever." Chris replied.

They walked into the alley where Rick was shot. The detective nodded to the crime scene investigators to lift the sheet covering the body. Chris just stared blankly at his brothers face, drained of all colour. Chris's own face began to go pale.

"Yeah, that's him." Chris said as he stumbled back onto the wall, trying to catch his breath.

"I'm sorry for your loss sir." The detective said to Chris, trying to comfort him, but obviously having no effect.

"How did he die?" Chris enquired.

"He was shot, once in the shoulder, and once in the head, both point blank." The CSI spilled out very straightforwardly. The detective shot a glance at the CSI.

"So it wasn't an accident." Chris said.

"We believe not." The detective said.

"Must have been that son of a bitch Cena…" Chris whispered to himself.

"Sorry sir?" The detective questioned, not quite catching what Chris had said.

"Um… nothing. I have to go now." Chris said turning away from his brothers limp body.

"Uh, just one more thing. Could you give me your address and telephone number. I might have to ask you a few questions later on." The detective asked.

"Uh yeah, sure." Chris replied, quickly scribbling down his home address and number.

"And take this as well sir. It's my card, if you think of anything, or just want to talk, don't hesitate to call me." The detective said, handing him his card. Chris looked at the card. Detective Steve Marcy. Chris just nodded and left.

* * *

Chris sat in the back of the car with Adam and Jay (Edge and Christian). He felt weightless. He didn't feel as sad or as angry as he thought he would be. He was still feeling the after effects of post traumatic shock. The worst part was how he was going to have to tell his mom. She was so old and fragile. News like this could drive her over the edge. He sat in the car staring out of the window. Darkness still enveloped the city. Chris then began to feel a pang of sadness. Just then it all came rushing to him. The sight of his brothers dead body, sprawled on the ground, lying in his own blood flooded into his head. The confusion, the sadness, the fear, the anger all came at once and it was just too much for him to handle as Chris broke into tears.

* * *

(A/N) Whew. It's been a while. I don't know. That chapter didn't feel right for me. Might be rust. Or maybe just a block. Hopefully it'll pass over. 


	11. Rebellion

(A/N) Hey guys. Hope you guys are having as much fun reading this as I am writing it. If you got any suggestions or ideas for the story to make it better for you, just tell me and I'll be sure to take it into consideration. Anyway on with the story…

* * *

Hunter's gang arrived back at Club Evolution into the wee hours of the morning. Hunter led his posse through the highly decorated front entrance of his club, the sign "Evolution" sparkling in the darkness. When they reached inside, they saw a very posh, upper class club with men dressed in suits and women dressed in barely anything. Hunter signaled for Ric, Randy, and Dave to follow him into his office while Snitsky occupied himself with a very busty stripper. Torrie just found an empty booth in the corner of the club to rest her head.

* * *

Hunter sat down in his chair and ushered his top men to sit down as well.

"Close the door behind you will ya Dave." Hunter ordered. "So boys, another successful night for Evolution wouldn't you say?"

The other three men cheered in agreement.

"I think we deserve a toast, to success." Randy suggested.

"Top idea." Hunter agreed as he nodded to Batista to fetch the champagne in the ice box.

"So fellas, the first part of our plan has been set into motion. That monster Snitsky absolutely demolished Cena tonight. Man after that beating, if Cena even wakes up, he'll want to get some revenge." Hunter said.

"That's if he even wakes up, eh boss?" Batista joked.

"Um… yeah, that's what I just said." Hunter gave Batista a mocking look. "Anyway, when Cena comes, we will be there to pounce on him, eh boys?"

"Damn right boss!" Came the unanimous reply.

"Bottoms up boys!"

Three of the men downed their champagne. Batista just sat there, with his full glass, staring daggers at Hunter.

"Hey baby, what are you doing here all by yourself?" A man in a pinstriped suit said to Torrie, who had been sleeping in her corner booth.

"Well, I was sleeping, until someone disturbed me." Torrie shot back harshly.

"Woah, woah. No need to get all worked up. Just trying to start a conversation with a beautiful lady. My name is Jake by the way." He replied.

"That's great. Are you done yet?"

"Hey listen you stupid bitch. You are going to regret talking to me like this." Jake said as he grabbed Torrie's wrist.

"Hey! You! What the hell do you think you are doing? Get your dirty hands off my girlfriend you mutt!" Someone yelled behind Jake's back.

Jake spun around and viewed Hunter glaring at him with a lean, young, muscualr man, an old white haired man and a huge beast like man standing behind him.

"Woah, sorry man. Didn't know she was taken." Jake said, letting go of Torrie's wrist.

Hunter could see the red hand print on Torrie's wrist.

"Did he hurt you baby?" Hunter asked Torrie, who just nodded while clutching her wrist.

"Why you no good bastard…" Hunter began while pacing towards a cowering Jake.

Jake made a run for the door but Randy, who was much more agile, got there first to block his escape. Jake tried to take a swing at Orton but Orton ducked and slammed his fist into Jake's stomach. Jake doubled over in pain, was picked up by Hunter and thrown onto a nearby table which collapsed.

"Pick up the dog." Hunter ordered Ric and Batista and they did as they were told. Hunter started to tee of on Jake who was now bleeding profusely by the nose and cheek.

"Stop! Hunter Stop!" Torrie called out.

Hunter stopped pummeling Jake to turn and address Torrie.

"He didn't hurt me. I was lying. Please stop." Torrie begged.

"Don't lie. I can see the marks. Don't you worry, when I'm done with this rat, he won't bother you ever again." Hunter reassured Torrie and went back to kicking Jake who was curled up in bloody mess on the floor.

"No, stop Hunter!" Torrie yelled to her boyfriend who was oblivious to her cries.

"Pick him up Dave." Hunter said.

Batista just stood there looking at Hunter.

"I said pick the mother fucker up now Dave!" Hunter said louder. Still Dave didn't budge. Hunter approached Batista who stood his ground.

"Did you not hear me Dave? I said pick him up." Hunter said to Dave's face, who was now standing right in front of him.

"No I heard you alright." Dave said to Hunter, breathing on his face.

"So… what is the problem. Why aren't you doing as I'm telling you?"

"Cause Torrie told you to stop. Didn't YOU hear?"

"TORRIE DOESN'T PAY YOU DOES SHE? TORRIE DOESN'T PUT THE FOOD ON THE TABLE FOR YOU! TORRIE DOESN'T PUT YOU IN THE CRISP SUITS AND LIMOSINES! NOW PICK HIM UP IF YOU STILL WANT TO HAVE A JOB IN MY GANG!" Hunter roared in Dave's face.

Batista just stood there, staring into Hunter's eyes of fire.

"Woah, woah. You two cool it. Look Hunter. He's up. I've got it under cover. Just finish him off now." Ric said in a desperate tone.

"NO! Drop him Ric. I asked Batista to pick him up. Not you. Now Batista, this is your last warning. Pick him up or you are history." Hunter said laying down the ultimatum.

Batista moved away from Hunter, turned around and walked straight out of the door.

"GET YOUR DUMB ASS BACK HERE RIGHT NOW DAVE! DON'T YOU DARE TURN YOUR BACK ON ME! DAVE! DAVE! THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING! COME BACK NOW! OR ELSE…"

Dave walked right out of the door, leaving behind him a scene of chaos and utter confusion.

* * *

(A/N) Hmmm… trouble in paradise. Hehe. This should be interesting. Anyway thanks again to all those who reviewed. I always love your input, be it good or bad. Anyway I'm off to my holiday so this is the last chapter for a while, so enjoy it. I should be back by the 16th of July so check up with this story after then. Anyway see you guys soon! 


	12. Lies and betrayals

(A/N) I'm back boys and girls! And boy am I ready to write. It's been quite a while so let's recap on what has been happening to John Cena. He has revealed that he was once an item Torrie Wilson but now they are apart. Torrie is with Hunter, and it is evident John still isn't over her, nor her over him. John is about to tell Eddie what happened between them that tore them apart, so… on with the show.

* * *

"Hey baby?" Torrie called out from the bedroom.

"Yeah? What's up babe?" John shouted his reply from the bathroom.

"Are you coming to bed or not? I'm getting lonely."

"Give me a minute. Damn woman. You're certainly eager tonight aren't you?"

"The only way to find out is if you come to bed. Doctor of Thuganomics my ass. You couldn't hold your own with me for more than a minute." Torrie teased.

"Oh really? Is that a challenge?" John rapped back.

"Maybe it is."

Just then John came bounding out of the bathroom and jumped on top of Torrie, who was lying on the bed. John pinned her wrists down and sat on top of her.

"So the mark is one minute? I'll tell you what. I'll raise the ante to three minutes. And why don't we make it a wager." John suggested.

"Fine. If you can contain yourself from climaxing, I'll be your sex slave for a week. If not, well you will be my kitchen slave for a week. Sounds fair?" Torrie said.

"Fair enough. Only one problem. You already are my sex slave." John joked as he began to relieve himself of his clothes.

John had fully undressed himself and his girlfriend and was about to get started when a loud knock came from the front door.

"Fuck!" John said out loud. "Who is it?"

"Police! Cena! Open the door!" The loud, authoritative shout came from the other side of the door.

"Oh shit. Quick babe, cover yourself up and hide." John said quickly grabbing his undergarments and throwing them on.

"What is wrong John? What did you do?" Torrie said, face full of concern, who was also out of bed and quickly getting dressed.

"Nothing babe. Now hurry! Hide!"

"Open the damn door Cena or we are coming in!" The cops yelled again.

"Wait a fucking minute man. I'm coming!" Cena shot back.

"That's it! We are coming in!"

Cena, who was zipping his pants up, was interrupted when the door flew off it's hinges and three armed cops invaded the house.

"Man! Did you have to smash my door! I was about to open it for you guys." John said exasperatedly.

"Cut the wise ass act Cena. You are under arrest for murder. You have the right to remain silent…" One of the uniformed cops started but was cut off mid sentence when a livid Torrie came flying out of the bathroom.

"MURDER! What the hell is going on John?" She screamed.

"Torrie, calm down. This is all a big mistake. Call the lawyer. Do it, now!" John said.

"Anything you say can or will be used against you in the court of law…" The cop continued, who now had Cena secured in handcuffs.

"JOHN! JOHN! What do I do?" Torrie yelled.

"You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you." The cop continued to read John his rights as he led him out of the house, leaving a desperate and disheveled Torrie Wilson in his wake.

"CALL THE LAWYER BABE! EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE OKAY!" Cena yelled over his shoulder, trying to reassure his girlfriend.

"Do you understand these rights as they have been read to you?"

"You damn right I understand them. I also understand you guys are fucking with the wrong person." Cena replied under his breath as he was ushered into the marked car.

* * *

Cena sat in a hard backed steel chair. He was in a dimly lit interrogation room, the lighting coming from a rickety ceiling lamp which was coming off it's hinges in the centre of the room. The only other things in the room were a bland wooden table, the iron grilled door and the special glass which the cops could see through but Cena couldn't. The door opened slowly a detective walked into the room.

"Hello John." The detective said to John, who still had his hands cuffed behind his back. "I would un cuff you, but my boss thinks you would be a threat to my life if you had your hands free, so I think I'll leave you as you are." The detective continued.

"Yeah, wise move jackass. Because I'd beat you to death with my bare hands." Cena growled.

"Hmmm… seems you've been doing a lot of that eh Cena. Beating people. You have been charged twice for aggravated assault, once for soliciting illegal fights and once for manslaughter. Yet you have never spent any time in the slammer."

"What can I say, everyone seems to love me. Including your wife, you pathetic prick." Cena shot back.

"Ha ha ha ha. You're a funny guy, you know that John. But you know what would really make me crack up, to see you actually spend time for you crimes. And this time, I'll make sure you do twenty to life for murder."

"I DIDN'T KILL NOBODY!" Cena yelled as he stood up swiftly. But the detective punched Cena in the stomach and forced him back down into the chair.

The detective bent over and got right up next to Cena's face so that he was whispering in his ear.

"You see John, I have been doing my research. I know a lot about you. I know that you run night clubs all around the five boroughs which encourage vicious underground fights late at night. I know you sometimes take part in these fights. I also know that you have had quite a history with Rick Jericho…" The detective paused purposely to see Cena's reaction to the mentioning of that name. John kept his poker face on. "I know that Rick Jericho also runs night clubs in New York and that you to have been involved in recent gang fights." The detective continued. "I also know that Rick Jericho was killed 2 months ago and that you have no alibi for the night of the murder."

Just as Cena was about to retort, the door to the interrogation room flew open. An intelligent looking man in a light blue suit, carrying a briefcase walked into the room. He identified himself as John's lawyer.

"Right this interview is over." The attorney said.

The detective stood up straight and turned to face John's lawyer.

"Hello Daniel." The detective said to the man in the suit.

"Well if it isn't New York's favorite detective, Steve Marcy. We are going to have a lot of fun with you." Daniel said, addressing the detective personally. "Come on John, let's get out of here before detective Marcy over here, comes up with anymore ludicrous charges to try and pin on you."

John got up and allowed himself to be un cuffed by Steve. He then followed his lawyer to the door.

"Oh, by the way, what charge will you have me beat today Steve?" Daniel called over his shoulder as he reached the door.

"First degree murder."

Daniel gave a small snort of indignation and walked out the door followed by Cena.

* * *

(A/N) Whew. Back from holidays. Bit of rust showing eh. Hopefully I'll be back to myself soon. Had fun on my holidays but now it's crunch time. Should be getting updates rolling pretty rapidly. Till next time folks! 


	13. The fallout

(A/N) Hmmm… having a little writers block. Can't think straight right at the moment. So excuse me if this chapter doesn't seem up to scratch. Well not much else to say except on with the story.

* * *

Chris, Edge and Christian sat in Rick's office at his club. Jericho was slumped in his brother's old chair. Edge took his usual place propped up against the wall behind Chris. Christian was pacing nervously around the room.

"Must have been Cena. Rick was out to see him that night. It must have been him." Christian was muttering more to himself than anyone else. His brother shot him a glance that told him to shut up.

Jericho still had not said anything since they arrived at the club.

"How are you doing Chris?" Edge enquired. Jericho continued to stare at the ground.

Five minutes passed in complete silence until Jericho spoke for the first time.

"I have to go home and tell ma."

"Yeah… Of course. You want me to drive you there?" Edge asked.

"No. I'll take a cab." And with that Chris left the room.

* * *

When Chris arrived home, the sun was just rising. He stepped out of the cab after paying the fare, to see an unknown sedan in his driveway. He had no idea who this car belonged to so he rushed up to the doorway and bounded into the house. What he saw shocked and angered him at he same time. Two detectives sitting at his table, with his mother, who was in hysterics. He recognized one of the detectives as the one who had given Chris his card. His mother jumped out of her chair and hobbled towards Chris. Chris ran forward and embraced his mother. His mother wept on him as Chris tried to console her. The two detectives stood up slowly.

"Did you have to come over here, drag her out of bed, and break it to her like that?" Chris asked as he released his mother.

"Sir, we had no other way of doing so." The other detective replied.

"Yeah ok what ever. So now that you have done your business, can u guys get the hell out of my house." Jericho shot at them.

The two detectives slowly made their way out of the house. Just before detective Marcy stepped out of the door, he turned around to address Chris.

"Remember what I said before, if you think of anything…"

"Yeah, I know." Chris cut him off and ushered his mom into the dining room.

"Hey ma, how are you doing?" Chris enquired.

"How the hell do you think I'm doing Chris? My oldest son has just been killed. I'm not exactly at the top of the bloody world. A mother should never have to bury her son Chris. Never."

"Yeah. I know ma. Why don't you go and get some rest huh?"

"Chris you have to swear to me that you will not pick up where your brother left off. If you die as well, my life would be over Chris. Promise me that you will not join your brother's stupid gang. I never did forgive him for trying to involve you Chris. Swear it to me." Chris' mother pleaded.

"Okay mom. I promise. Now go and get some rest."

Chris' mother gave him a kiss on the cheek. She gave him one of her rare smiles. A smile that back in her day, would've won over any man's heart, and she went off to bed. Chris sat down in one of the wooden chairs in the kitchen. He played with the idea of getting some much needed rest himself, but he had too much on his mind at the moment. Plus he knew it wasn't going to happen so he got up, grabbed the keys that he threw on the counter when he came in, and walked out of the door.

* * *

Present day…

Dave Batista had just done the unthinkable. He had just turned his back on Triple H. Dave was riding in the back of a cab, contemplating his latest move. He started to question whether it was the right move, seeing that Hunter did pay most of his bills and put the food on the table. Dave knew he couldn't go back to being a bouncer. He just hated all the phoney wannabes and their slutty girls, trying to get him in bed for a few bucks.

When he reached his apartment in upper class Queens, he gave the cabbie a generous tip. Old habits die hard, he thought, realizing that he was going to need all the cash he could scrape up. He walked into his fairly posh flat with nice furniture and other shit. He slumped into his favorite recliner and undid his tie and his shirt. Dave knew he was going to have to watch his back from now on. Hunter wasn't going to let him go that easily, he knew that much. After a few minutes, the ringing of his telephone interrupted the serene silence. Dave got up to answer the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Dave?"

"Yeah. Is that you Randy?" Dave asked.

"You know it big man. What's going on with you?" Randy Orton asked.

Dave always did like Randy the best. Even though he was really cocky and pretty damn arrogant, he was a good kid on the inside. And besides, Randy had a reason to be cocky. He did have damn good looks and some muscle to back it up.

"Yeah. Nothing really. I'm just cooling off at home." Dave said.

"Good, good. Cool off a little. Hey, you really left the club in a real mess man. Hunter is off his head man. He's flying all over the place like a mad man. Ric is trying to cool him down as well." Randy informed him.

"Yeah well, I'm through with Hunter. He is a grade A quality jerk."

"Don't say that Dave. The team needs you Dave. Look, once you cool off, and Hunter cools off, I'm sure you two can work it out, ok?"

"I doubt it Randy. Look, I'm really tired ok? I'm going to head off to bed. I'll talk to you later."

"Ok, sure. Talk to you later big man."

With that, Dave replaced the telephone and made his way to the bedroom, where he got into his boxers and jumped into bed.

* * *

"THAT SON OVA BITCH!" Hunter raged. "I'M GOING TO KILL THAT LITTLE BACKSTABBING BITCH!"

"Hunter! H, you gotta cool down man." Ric said to a pissed off Hunter.

"THAT FUCKER IS GOING TO GET THE SURPRISE OF HIS LIFE WHEN I PLUG HIS ASS FULL OF LEAD!"

"Hey, Hunter. Don't say things like that man. He's Batista! He's the Animal. He doesn't always know what he is doing, but he is the most ferocious fighter, bar none. Bar fucking none. We need him H. Evolution needs him."

"You maybe right Ric. But if he doesn't know who runs the show around here, than he may as well be taken care of, because I am not having mutiny of any sort in my crew." Hunter said, calming down a little now.

"Don't worry H. We will let him calm down, get his act together. Than I will go over to his flat and convince him, that it is in his best interests to join the team again." Ric said.

"Okay, fine. But I want him crawling back to me on his hands and knees Ric. Hands and knees." Hunter emphasized.

"Don't worry boss. By tomorrow night, The Animal will be back in Evolution, rolling with the winners."

* * *

(A/N) Hey guys. We had a look at the point of view of three characters in this chapter. Fair effort if I may say so myself. But really, if you guys aren't getting what you want out of the story, than don't be afraid to tell me. Cause all I have been getting is good reviews. (Don't be mistaken, I love em. Hehe) But this suggests my story is perfect so far, which I doubt very much. So by all means criticize me all you want. If you want more action, romance, girl on girl action, don't be afraid to tell me. BTW, I'm sorry bout all the flashbacks. I really want to get back to the main part of the story, so I'm thinking of writing one super long chapter that just wraps up all the flashbacks. Tell me if you would have it otherwise though. Other than that, love the support and keep it coming. 


	14. Deadman on a mission

(A/N) Hey guys. I remember earlier someone asked if Undertaker was going to be involved in the story. Well I did a little shuffling and found a way to fit him in. So the Undertaker makes his first appearance in this chapter just for you El Chacal, I think it was. And to ChristyHemmeRocks, I will definitely try and find a way to fit her in as well.

* * *

Chris rode in his pretty banged up Corolla. It really was a shit house car Chris thought to himself as he drove along the main street. The early morning New York rush hour was just about starting with cars beginning to congest the streets. Chris made a turn off into one of the smaller suburban streets. All the houses in this particular area of the Bronx were pretty run down and shotty. Jericho spied a few suspicious characters hanging around on the streets. They were probably doing drugs, or trying to sell them. Either way, Chris wanted nothing to do with them. Chris drove with a purpose, weaving around the curving back alleys. He finally came to his destination. He stepped out of the car and looked up at a really run down house. It was more of a shed, with trash and reject metal parts lying in the front lawn. The car in the driveway was in even worse condition than his was. He walked up to the front door, stepping around all the shit on the front lawn, and knocked on the door. The door nearly came off its hinges. Chris waited there in silence for a moment. He heard some bustling inside and the door opened soon after. A huge imposing man stood in the doorway looking down at Chris. He easily broke 6 foot and made Chris look really quite miniscule. The imposing figure stood there for a while, not even acknowledging Chris, who just stood there.

"Um… hey there. You think I can come in? The sun is gonna burn me alive out here." Chris said. The large man moved back into his house to allow Chris to enter. Chris shut the door behind him and looked around at his surroundings. The inside was just as messy, if not worse than the outside.

"Jeez you live in a shit hole." Chris exclaimed.

The large man, who was wearing faded jeans and a plain black t-shirt turned around to glare at Chris.

"Woah, no need to get your panties in a knot." Chris said as he backed up one step.

"What do you want." Were the first words to come out of the large man's mouth.

"Not a very good host I can see. Looks like you haven't changed much since the last time we met. Eh Mark." Chris said.

"Look, last time I checked, you weren't that inviting to me either, with your wise ass cracks. I'm pretty busy, so if you don't mind, you can get the fuck out of my house." Mark said.

"No, you look. Last time I checked, you owe my brother a favor. A damn big one too, seeing that he saved your ass from going to jail. And since my brother is now dead, I think it is just about time you repay the favor." Chris shot back.

Mark Calloway, or "The Undertaker" as they used to call him when he dominated the underground fighting scene, just stood there. He stared at Chris, however his previously ice cold glare had become soft and forgiving.

"When did it happen?" Mark asked.

"Last night."

Mark continued to look at Chris. He finally moved towards an old recliner and parked himself in it.

"Look, I'm sorry for your loss but I actually am really busy, so there is nothing I can do right now." The Undertaker said.

"Hey listen, I might not have taken to you, but when you used to fight, my brother had nothing but respect for you dominance. And when you went and got yourself framed, my brother went ahead and testified for you, clearing you of the drug possession charges and putting his own ass on the chopping block. He did all of that out of respect for you. Now I'm not asking you to respect me, I'm just asking for your help." Chris said.

Mark sat in the recliner for a while, contemplating what Chris just said. He played back in his mind, the time when no living man could beat him in the squared circle, so the gang that Rick was in, planted drugs on him and got him picked up by the police. He remembered how Rick came forth and gave the names of the people who framed him, and even testified. Rick, of course had to go into hiding for a while, until things started to cool over. He remembered how Rick started his own gang and asked him to join, and how he refused, saying that he would repay the favor in another way. So he figured he owed it to Rick's brother, Chris, even though he was a little prick.

"What do you need?" Mark finally asked.

"I knew you would come to your senses. I need you to help me find and get Cena. I can't do it by myself, and I don't want my friends to get involved."

"So it was Cena then that killed your brother? Are you sure of it?"

"As sure as the sun shining in the sky." Chris confirmed.

"Ok, meet me here tomorrow night, I'll find out where Cena hangs, and we will go and take him out. And after that, this debt that I have with your brother, will be repaid." Mark said.

"It's a date big man. I'll see you tomorrow night. Oh and by the way, I'll be bringing someone else who will be keen on getting his revenge on Cena." Chris said as he walked over to the door and left "The Undertaker's" house.

* * *

Chris woke up from his little cat nap. He had arrived back from Mark's place and was overcome with weariness, so he took a nap. It was now evening and Chris decided to go and inform the man who would accompany him and the Undertaker on their mission to get Cena. He put on his shirt and shorts and walked towards the door.

"Where are you going Chris?" His mother called out.

"Um…" Chris began, caught off his guard. "To see Adam."

"You know I don't like him. He means trouble. Don't forget that promise you made me." His mother warned.

"Yeah I know mom. And he is not trouble, he's my best friend. So I'm going to see him anyway." Chris said as he opened the door.

"Don't forget Chris…" His mother started but was cut short with Chris exiting the house.

It was scorching, middle of summer, kind of hot outside. Chris thought about driving in his car, but the air conditioning was piss weak so he took a cab instead.

* * *

When he arrived at his brother's club, people were starting to file in. Chris made his way through the line and was allowed in by the bouncers immediately. He walked into his brother's office where Edge was sitting.

"Have you even been home yet?" Chris enquired.

"Yeah, I went home last night to get some rest, I just arrived here about half an hour ago. Someone has got to keep this place running." He replied.

"Yeah, good point. Hey, anyway do you know where Michaels is?" Chris asked.

"No I don't. Why? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just great. I need to talk to him. Where is he?" Chris asked again, moving over to one of the chairs in the office and taking a seat.

"I don't know Chris. Why do you need to see him?" Edge pushed.

"I just do alright! You don't need to know every little thing I do." Chris said a little aggravated.

"Look Chris. Shawn was supposed to be with Rick when the deal went down. He's missing now. Cena probably took him." Edge blurted out with a concerned look on his face.

"The sonova bitch." Chris said vehemently who was now standing on his feet. "First he screws my brother over, and now he kidnaps his best friend. Oh how that bitch is going to pay."

"Chris, I hope you are not planning to do anything stupid." Edge said.

"Of course not. Look I'm going back home. Mom needs her meds. I'll see you later ok."

"Chris I seriously hope you are not going to do anything stupid." Edge repeated his concern.

"I'm not. Don't worry." Chris said as he walked out the door. "Looks like the mission for revenge has just turned into a rescue mission." Chris said under his breath as he walked out the club.

Back in the office, Edge paced around the room, contemplating his next move. He knew Chris was going to try and get at Cena, but he couldn't really stop him if he had his mind set on it. Those Jericho boys were damn stubborn. There was one thing he could do but he wanted to use it as a last resort only. After ten minutes, he really couldn't see any other way. He picked up the phone and dialed a three digit number.

"Hello, is this the police?"

"Yes sir, and your name?"

"That's not important, what is important, is you putting undercover men on a man named Chris Jericho. He lives at 39 Cassidy Street, Brooklyn. Follow him everywhere he goes. I have a feeling he is going to get himself in some trouble."

"Sir, could we please have your na…"

Edge hung up the phone.

* * *

(A/N) About that super long chapter that is supposed to wrap up the flashback, I decided against it. I thought I really needed to split it up into about two or three chapters. I just love keeping you in suspense. But not to worry, the flashbacks are almost out of the way. 


	15. Compromises

(A/N) Hey guys. Thanks for all the support. I will definitely finish this story. If there is one thing I hate, is reading a story and then not being able to finish it. So don't worry, I wont leave you guys in suspense, I'll finish this story sooner or later.

* * *

Chris paced the office in his brother's club. Edge had left and Chris was there alone. He had a few hours to kill before he had to meet Mark at his house to settle the score with Cena and to rescue Shawn Michaels. Hopefully they wouldn't be too late and Michaels would still be alive. Chris sat down in his brother's chair and poured himself a hard drink. He downed it quick like, hoping it would settle his nerves, but it didn't. Chris was nervous as hell about the mission. Finally Chris couldn't take it anymore. He decided to leave early to Mark's house, so he opened the desk drawer and pulled out his 8mm. He checked the clip and the action for the tenth time that day, and when he was finally satisfied the gun wasn't going to stall on him tonight, he left the club.

* * *

Mark Calloway sat in his favorite recliner drinking a can of beer. He was always relaxed, and never showed any sign of nervousness or anxiety, even though he was drowning in it. "The Undertaker" really didn't fancy his odds on this one, but convinced himself he owed it to Rick's brother. In some ways, he saw Rick in Chris Jericho. They were both reliable, unpredictable, stubborn and even though Chris didn't show it, he knew that he was kind hearted. Mark knew that Chris was loyal. In other ways, they were poles apart. While Rick was more subdued, Chris was impatient and loud. While Rick was cool, calm and collective, Chris was brash. And while Rick was more of a thinking man, Chris always believed in shoot first, ask questions never, and this hot headedness of Chris was what was worrying Mark the most.

Just then, he heard a pounding on his door.

"Hey Mark, old buddy. It's me, Chris. Open up will yah." Came the distinctive voice form the other side.

Mark wondered what Chris was doing half an hour early. He opened the door none the less and let Chris into his house.

"Still haven't made the effort to tidy up a bit I can see." Chris said.

"What are you doing here? You are half an hour early." Mark replied, ignoring the smart ass comment.

"I'm never early, everyone else is just late. Anyway, have you found out where Cena is hiding?" Chris asked.

"I got two possible hits. His major club is in Queens, he might be there. Or otherwise his apartment is in Central Bronx, near Bronx Park." Mark confirmed.

"Ok. I say we hit his apartment first, since it's closer. We'll leave now so we have some time to scout it out first." Chris said.

"OK then. Let's go."

Mark went into his bed room, presumably to grab his weapon. He came back out, took his coat off the recliner and the two men walked out of the house.

* * *

Chris and Mark sat in Chris' Corolla outside of Cena's house. Chris was in the passenger seat though, as Mark insisted on driving. For some reason, he didn't trust Chris' driving. They had been sitting there for about ten minutes and Chris was getting restless.

"I don't think he's here. Let's hit his club." Jericho said impatiently.

"His god damn lights are on for Christ sake. Keep your pants on. He's here, I know it." Mark told him.

Chris continued to sit there, fidgeting around and tapping his fingers madly on the dashboard. Finally he saw the door open. Light from the house flooded the street as he saw Cena step out of the house.

"There he is. Let's roll." Chris said as he opened the door and got out of the car.

It was only at that moment that Mark realized they hadn't thought of a plan. Mark reached out to grab Chris' shirt and tried to stop him, but he was out of his reach. Mark swore under his breath as he shot a quick glance at his rear view mirror. Two men hopped out of the car behind him and were making a swift approach towards Chris.

Chris was walking with a purpose towards Cena. He then saw someone else emerge from Cena's house. Shawn Michaels all too casually strolled out of Cena's apartment and walked over to Cena and shook his hand. Chris who was flushed with anger, recalled nothing that happened after this point.

Mark who was struggling to get his seatbelt off looked out of the window. He saw Chris reach into his jacket pocket. Mark prayed that Chris wasn't about to do what he thought he was going to do. When Chris pulled his hand out of his jacket, Mark's worst fears were confirmed. Chris, walking steadily towards Cena and Shawn Michaels, aimed his pistol at them and fired. His shot rang off the lamp post. Cena and Shawn were now hoofing it down the street. Chris fired again and this shot hit the brick house, inches from Shawn's head. The two men who had got out of the car behind him were now on top of Chris and had him in handcuffs. Mark, who was now out of his seat belt, was about to jump out and help Chris when he saw Chris looking straight at him. Chris sent the message with his eyes, telling him to drive away. Chris was a hell of a lot like his brother…

* * *

"Who were you shooting at Chris?" Detective Marcy asked again.

"None of your damn business bitch!"

"Chris, we need your full co operation if you want us to catch your brother's killer."

Chris remained silent, staring straight ahead inside the interrogation room.

"Look Chris. I'm willing to make you a deal. You give us the name of the guy you were going after tonight, we will drop all the charges against you." The detective said.

"I aint telling you shit." Chris said stubbornly.

"Why not? You give us the name, you stay out of jail. We catch the guy and put him in jail for killing your brother. It's a win win situation."

"How can I be sure that you guys are going to catch him? You NYPD couldn't tell your ass from your fucking elbow." Chris taunted.

"Okay Chris. I didn't want to have to resort to this. But you forced me." Detective Marcy said as he walked over to the one way window. "Bring her in."

After a few seconds of silence, the door to the interrogation room opened and Chris' mom came bounding in.

"CHRIS! HOW COULD YOU! YOU SWORE TO ME!" Chris' mother yelled as she ran to hem and collapsed into his arms.

"Mom. Why did you come?"

"You swore to me Chris. You promised!" She continued to wail.

"Mom, just calm down, I can explain." Chris tried to soothe his mother.

"There is nothing to explain. All there is is you giving us the name, and us cutting you loose, that is all there is to…" Detective Marcy started, but was cut of by Chris.

"SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH! My mother didn't need to be involved in this, she has been through enough. Real fucking noble of you to pick on a sick old lady! You make me sick you dirty, trailer trash scumbag."

"Chris, just listen. You don't give us the name, we are going to have to prosecute you. We have got about a dozen eye witnesses, that saw you. You will go to jail. Think about your mom." The detective continued.

"Don't you even…" Chris was about to shout at the detective again, but saw the reasoning in his argument. He could not go to jail. No one would look after his mother. Jericho stood there for what seemed like hours, just thinking, with his mother in his arms, sobbing on his shoulder.

"John Cena." Chris said under his breath.

"Sorry?"

"JOHN CENA! Now get us out of this shit hole." Chris said.

Detective Marcy opened the door to the interrogation room. Chris and his mother walked out of the room.

"Oh and Chris!" The detective said just before Chris was out of the precinct. "We will catch your brother's killer. I promise you."

"Whatever." Chris replied as he left the building.

* * *

Chris sat in the cab with his mother. He sat there thinking about his latest move. Should he have given Michaels' name as well? No. Chris wanted Michaels for himself. The son of a bitch probably pulled the trigger himself. Chris was going to get Shawn for betraying his brother, and he was going to make him pay. 


	16. Broken promises lead to broken hearts

(A/N) Hey guys, sorry bout the long delay. Been sick for a while and I have been on a rugby tour for the last week. Will try to get the chapters up quicker next time. Enjoy!

* * *

Cena sat in a large, quite well furnished room. A crystal chandelier tinkled over head. Sitting opposite him was his lawyer. They were in Daniel's house.

"So tell me Cena, what were you doing at the time of the murder?" Daniel asked casually while sipping his whisky.

"Why do you need to know? Do you think I'm guilty too?"

"Look John. It doesn't matter what I think, my job is to help you get acquitted whether you are guilty or not. I just need to establish an alibi." Daniel reasoned.

Cena sat there thinking for a while. He then decided that he would have to trust his lawyer if he was any chance of going free. "Don't have an alibi. I was at the scene of the crime. But I didn't pull the trigger." Cena said.

"Well this makes things a little tricky. You could be charged as an accomplice. But anyway who did pull the trigger?"

"Can't tell. I never rat out anybody."

"Cena, it is crucial that we get the name of the shooter. Otherwise you are the key suspect and they will go at you hard. On the other hand, if you give the name of the actual shooter, I can cut you a deal and you will be home free." Daniel pleaded with his client.

"Well looks like I'm going to have to take my chances in the courtroom."

"Ok then. Fine. But do you at least have the murder weapon? That way we can compare your fingerprints to the ones on the gun, and when they don't line up, you will be safe."

"Yeah I still got the gun. But how do you know they won't match the prints to my boy?"

"Has he ever been convicted?"

"Nope."

"Well then he's safe as well."

"Ok, then it's settled. I'll go get my get out of jail free card. But there is one small problem. We can't just hand the gun to the cops. They will be suspicious as to why I even have the gun. They have to find it themselves." John observed.

"Don't you worry, I'll take care of that. What you have to do is hide the murder weapon somewhere in the crime scene, I'll remind the cops that they don't have a murder weapon. They will go looking, they will find it, and you get off unscathed."

* * *

"Hey detective! We found something." A crime scene investigator called out to Steve.

A large team were assembled at the crime scene well into the night. The CSIs with their flashlights roaming the dark alley. Detective Steve Marcy followed the CSI who called out to him. He was led to a dumpster well concealed in the shadows. He was shown a gun in a plastic bag.

"How did you not find it earlier?" Steve asked the CSI.

"I don't know. We searched this dumpster inside out."

"Never mind. Let's get it back to the lab. Once we match the prints to Cena's, he's gone."

* * *

"No match."

"What?"

"It's not a match." The man in the lab coat repeated.

"How is that possible? Could you have made a mistake?" Steve said perplexed.

"We checked it 5 times. The prints on the gun do not match Cena's prints."

"Are you sure it is the murder weapon then?"

"Ballistics said it is definitely the gun that killed Rick Jericho."

"DAMN IT! We had him. Two bloody months of profiling the son of a bitch gone down the drain."

"I'm sorry." The scientist said as he made his way out of the office."

* * *

Chris sat at home with a bottle of booze. His mother was asleep when the phone rang. Chris staggered off his chair to get to the phone.

"Huh." Chris grunted.

"Hello? This is detective Marcy. Is this Chris?"

"Yah, whadya want?" Chris said with a slur.

"I've got some unsettling news. I'm afraid John Cena did not kill your brother."

"Huh?"

"We found the murder weapon, the prints on the gun do not match Cena's. I'm sorry."

"Yeah ok." Chris said, slowly snapping out of his drunkenness.

"Are you going to be alright?" Steve asked.

"Yeah. Fine. Bye." Chris said abruptly as he ended the conversation. Chris slouched back to the chair and collapsed into it. His intuition had been right. Shawn was the one who killed Rick. But he had no intention of letting the cops know that. He was going to take care of business himself. He got up off his chair, and went to the kitchen counter. He opened the drawer and picked up the gun he hid in there. He was checking the clip when his mother walked in on him.

"What are you doing with that Chris?" She asked.

"Go back to sleep mom."

"Chris don't you dare. You already broke your promise. Don't you dare break my heart."

"I said go back to sleep." He said again. Chris turned his back on his mother and walked towards the door.

"CHRIS! NO! PLEASE DON'T!" His mother shrieked as she ran and grabbed his arm.

Chris continued to walk, dragging his mother behind him.

"CHRIS! I'M BEGING YOU! DON'T DO THIS TO ME!" She pleaded desperately.

With one swift motion, Chris pulled his mother towards him, and then shoved her away, sending her sprawled out on the floor. She started crying.

"Pl..pl…please don't…don't do thi…this to m..m…m…me. Please." She said between sobs.

Chris stood there, surveying what he had just done.

"Go back to sleep." The emotion drained from his voice and injected into his eyes. Chris left the house and his hysterical mother.

* * *

Cena had been released from custody and was taking a cab back to his house. When he got there, he noticed his girlfriend's car parked in the driveway.

"What was she doing at his house" Cena wondered.

John opened the door to his house. He peered in cautiously. Everything had been turned around. His place was a mess. He shut the door behind him as he walked into his lounge room. It was even worse than his hallway. Torrie was sitting in a chair in the lounge area. Her eyes were red and makeup ran down her cheeks. She looked up at him, with pure venom in her eyes.

"Are you alright honey?" Cena asked as he approached her cautiously.

"Don't you dare take another step you bastard." Torrie spat back softly, her usually warm voice laced with resentment.

John stopped dead in his tracks. He stared into his girlfriends eyes, and knew something was seriously wrong.

"What is it? Why are you acting like this?" John enquired.

"YOU DAMN WELL KNOW JOHN! YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Torrie exploded. John took a step back, surprised by the shrillness in her voice.

"YOU LIED TO ME YOU BASTARD! YOU TOLD ME YOU HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH RICK JERICHO'S MURDER YOU LYING PRICK!" She raged on.

"Woah woah woah, hold up there honey. What do you mea…"

"Don't you call me honey. I found the god damn drugs. I found the money. You bastard, you killed a man, at least have the guts to own up to it."

"I didn't kill him. I swear." John pleaded, but it was too late. Torrie was really pissed.

"I can't believe you. You are dripping with guilt and you're still lying out of your nose. It's over John. If you can't be honest with me, then I'm through with you." Torrie said as she began to walk past John.

"Torrie please wait." John began as he grabbed Torrie's arm. Torrie turned to face him and spat right in his face. John recoiled and released his grip.

"Make no mistake, I did love you John. And for that, I did not turn you in. But if you ever get so much as a speeding ticket, the truth just might come pouring out of me." Torrie threatened as she left the house, leaving a heartbroken John to sort out the mess in his house, and in his life.

* * *

Chris was pushing 120 in his car when his mobile phone rang. He slowed down a fraction to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Hey Chris, it's me, Adam."

"Hey. What's going on?

"Nothing. Hey how are you? Alright?" Edge asked.

"Dude, it's been two months ok?" Referring to his brothers killing. "I'm fine, don't worry about me." Chris said, but with obvious strain in his voice.

"You don't sound alright. Hey, are you driving? Where are you going Chris?"

"Um…To the supermarket. Can't talk now, I'll talk to you later."

"Chri…" Edge started but Chris had hung up on him.

Egde put the phone down and turned to face Mark.

"I think he's about to do something really stupid." Edge said with genuine concern in his voice.

"Did he say where he was off to?" Mark asked.

"He said to the supermarket, but that's a load of crap. Who the hell goes to the market at this time of night?" Edge remarked skeptically.

"I think I know where he might be heading off to. We gotta stop him before he gets there, or he's fucked."

"Why? Where is he going?" Edge started but there was no response from Mark. He already had his coat on and he grabbed his gun which he left on the table of Rick's office.

"C'mon, no time now. Let's go."

* * *

Chris slowed to a crawl and eased his car into a parking spot on the side of the street. He threw on his coat as he walked out onto the street, his eyes staring intently on his target. He walked up the sidewalk and up to a yellow brick house. Shawn Michael's house. Chris thought of how he was going to make Shawn scream for mercy. He pictured in his head, what he was going to do to the wretched scumbag. He walked up to the door and peered into the window next to the door. No lights were on that he could see. He took of his coat, wrapped it around his elbow, and as gently as he could, smashed the window. He reached in, unlocked the deadbolt and the lock. Chris pulled out his gun and slowly made his way into the house. It was pretty dark inside, but the light from the full moon gave a little illumination through the windows. Chris cautiously and quietly treaded into the house. He walked into the living room, gun at the ready, eyes doing a brisk scan of the area. No sign of Michaels yet. Chris made his way across the living room towards the bedroom. Chris looked to his side at the wall. The moon light shone brightly here and reflected his shadow on the white wall. Chris then saw another shadow appear behind him. He spun around with his gun raised. Something hard hit him in the forehead and knocked him clean off his feet. Chris sank into unconsciousness.

* * *

When Chris opened his eyes, his head still hurt like hell. He blinked a couple of times, to get his eyes accustomed to the lights. He observed his surroundings and found that he was in a hospital. His friend Adam stood over him.

"Hey buddy." Edge said.

"Mmmmpph." Chris grunted in acknowledgement.

"You got busted open pretty bad, nine stitches across the forehead."

"Have I been out for long?" Chris enquired.

"About 3 hours since me and Mark found you. What the hell were you thinking going after Michaels all by yourself? You know I would have had your back. Why didn't you tell me about him?"

"I didn't want to drag you into this."

"That's no bloody excuse." Edge said, his face showing frustration, but then softened, his visage flushed with sympathy.

"He got away didn't he?" Jericho enquired, even though he sort of knew the answer already.

"Yeah. He did. But I got some worse news." Edge said, his face now looking really concerned. He shifted is feet and stared at the ground uneasily.

"What? What could be worse than the son of a bitch getting away with what he did?" Chris said angrily.

"Chris…brace yourself."

"What? What is it Adam?" Chris asked.

"Chris, your mom killed herself. The neighbours heard screaming. After they saw you leave the house they went to check on her, they found her empty pill bottle in her hand. The cops just told me a few minutes ago. I'm really sorry."

* * *

(A/N) Lot's of major developments! My longest chapter yet I think. Hope you liked it. Well I think that is about it for the flashbacks. I hope I covered everything. If I missed some loose ends, tell me and I'll fit them in later. Peace. 


	17. Taming the animal

(A/N) Finally back to present day. Haven't heard about the Triple H/Batista episode for a while so let's recap. After the big fight in the club between the two giants, Batista walks out on Triple H. It seems as if Batista has had it with Triple H and gang but Ric Flair seems to have a plan to get him back. On with the story…

* * *

The morning after the big row in the club, Ric, Hunter and Randy sat in a white stretch limo, en route to Dave's flat. The atmosphere in the limo was full of tension. The trio rode in complete silence. When they reached their destination, two men got out of the car and stood looking at the house.

"Well you ready?" Ric asked, his question directed at Randy.

"As I will ever be." Randy replied.

The two men climbed the steps up to the door. It had been agreed earlier that Hunter would wait outside unless he was needed in the house for further persuasion. Randy knocked on the door softly and stood there, smoothing out his suit in an act of nervousness. The door opened and in the doorway stood the large frame of the 'Animal.'

"Hey big man. How's you're head?" Ric blurted out.

Randy shot Ric a glance that said "What kind of stupid question is that?"

"Yeah, fine I guess." Batista answered.

"Can we come in, maybe?" Randy asked.

Batista led the way into his house as the two men followed suit.

"Can I get you anything to drink?" Dave asked.

"Nothing for me." Randy said.

"Me neither." Ric seconded.

Dave sat himself in his recliner in the living room. The two other men sat on a sofa facing Dave.

"So what can I do for you two today?"

"The question is what we can do for you." Ric said. "Now look, we didn't come here to beat around the bush, and you know as well as anybody, that the 'Nature Boy' is not one to bullshit, so let me cut straight to the chase. Evolution wants you back. No scrap that. Evolution needs you back."

Randy slapped his head in frustration. When Ric was anxious, he blurted. Ric just blurted. A shifty smile came upon Dave's face.

"Hmmm… Evolution needs me back eh?"

"That's right big fella. We would love it if you would come back to the club." Randy emphasized.

"Did Hunter set you two up to this?" Dave asked.

"What! No! of course not… Well yeah sort of." Ric blurted.

"Well you tell Hunter this. Evolution may need Dave, but Dave sure as hell doesn't need Evolution."

"Now Dave, let's not be irrational. Let's think about this for a second. Alright?" Randy suggested.

"Thought about it. Answer is still the same. Now if you two gentlemen don't mind, I'm pretty damn busy, so if you will excuse me…"

The two men got the message and they rose from their seats with a beaten expression on their faces. Dave let them show themselves the way out as he walked to the kitchen. As they walked out, they fought amongst each other as to who was going to have to break the bad news to the boss. When they opened the door to leave, they saw Hunter standing next to the limo. He flicked his head as to ask if they achieved their purpose. Ric gave him the thumbs down and Hunter shook his head. He began to walk towards the door. Randy and Ric looked at each other uneasily. Hunter brushed passed them and entered the house before the two of them could say anything to each other.

"BATISTA! How are you my friend?" Hunter said in a loud and jovial voice.

Batista stood in the defensive, ready for a fight. Hunter could sense his nervousness.

"Ease up big fella. I'm here to talk, that's all." Hunter said even more jovially, a big fake grin plastered on his rugged face.

"What do you want Hunter?" Dave questioned.

"I think you already know the answer to that one Dave."

"Humor me."

"Dave, I'm asking you as a friend, and as an old mentor, to rejoin Evolution. You'll find it is in your better interest." Hunter said.

"Is that a threat?"

"What you make of it is your own business. I'm asking you nicely now, but I won't grovel forever."

"Well then you can get the hell out of my house." Dave said.

"Fine. Have it your way. C'mon boys. We are obviously not wanted here." Hunter said, motioning for Randy and Ric, who had been standing behind him the whole time, to move off. The three made their way to the door.

"Oh Dave, when I said it would be in your best interest, I forgot to mention the interest of your girlfriend Christy." Hunter said, stopping in his tracks.

Dave flinched at the mention of that name.

"She is in L.A doing a photo shoot isn't she? Quite beautiful she is. Wouldn't want anything unpredictably horrible to happen to her on her way back." Hunter said menacingly.

"Why you lousy son of a bitch!" Dave growled as he lunged for Hunter. Hunter spun around to meet Dave head on. Both men tumbled to the ground. Ric and Randy quickly grabbed Dave by his arms and pulled him off Hunter. Dave pushed both of them off at he same time and went for Hunter again. Randy and Ric recovered quickly and pounced on Dave again. They wrangled him off again, and this time Hunter came in with a fist to his gut. Dave, winded badly, sagged to his knees gasping for air.

"You dir…hhhuuuhh..dirty mother fucker huuuuhhh." Dave said between labored breaths.

"Now Dave, if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all." Hunter teased as he straightened himself up. "Now look. I'm a reasonable man, which is why I'm giving you a choice. I'm going to walk out the door, no hassles, nothing. You can either let me walk on out of here, and you can go back to living your life, having to look over your shoulder every day of the week. Not being able to send any children you and Christy should happen to have to school. You will have to lock yourself in your house 24/7. Or you can stop me from walking out the door, take back all those mean things you said, and you and Christy can have many children, send them to the best schools, and live happily ever after. It's up to you Dave."

Hunter stood there for a minute to let it sink in.

"Let him go boys. We are leaving." Hunter ordered.

Ric and Randy let go of Dave and followed their boss.

"Wait. Hunter, don't go."

Hunter stopped once more, on the verge of leaving the house. A smile crept onto his face and he was obviously enjoying this new power he had over 'The Animal'. Hunter turned around as Dave slowly got to his feet.

"Don't leave. I'll join Evolution." Dave said exasperatedly

"I believe you are forgetting something Dave." Hunter said.

"And I take back those unflattering things I said about you before." Dave was staring at the ground now, totally humiliated. No one had ever controlled Dave like this before, but he was going to have to get used to it.

"Thank you Dave. Now come with me and the boys to the club. We got a big night ahead of us." Hunter turned around and headed out the door. Dave stared daggers into Hunter's back, but eventually followed suit grudgingly. Randy and Ric brought up the rear and Ric closed the door behind him.

* * *

(A/N) Well Fidelitas, you wanted to know about Dave, you got it. Also someone asked if Christy could be in the story, I sort of squeezed her in. She'll play a bigger part later on, as will Undertaker. 


	18. The plan

(A/N) We are back to Chris Jericho's present day story. Incase you forgot, Chris was sitting in the office of his club with Edge and Benoit. Chris spotted Shawn in his club and got pissed, now Edge and Benoit are trying to reason with him.

* * *

"You got that Chris?" Edge said.

"Huh? What?" Chris said, snapping out of his daydream.

"Did you get the plan?" Edge repeated.

"No sorry. Tell me again."

"Jeez. I just spent like 15 minutes explaining it to Benoit." Edge rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I was suggesting that I go up to Cena, pretend that I am sick of working for you, pretend to switch to his side, and we eat him up from the inside."

"How are we going to do that?" Jericho said a bit confused.

"Many ways. I can filter his money into your bank account, give you his plans, everything. That way, we will always be one step ahead of him."

"That's all good and shit, but Cena is not that dumb. He knows you are close to me, he won't fall for it that easily." Chris said, still skeptical about the plan.

"Well… I'll tell him that you're still sour over your brother's death. That you have been treating me and everybody else bad. I'll tell him I need a change of scenery." Edge suggested.

"Okay then. You can give it a shot." Chris gave the go ahead.

"Alright, it's settled then. I'm going to have to be careful when talking to you from now on. When ever I call you, I'll identify myself as Mada. I'll then ask you 'how is the business', then you will know it's me. Then, you say something like, 'could be better' to identify yourself."

"We really need all these precautions?" Chris Jericho said.

"If we are to pull this off successfully, then yeah. We do."

"Alright, fine. You set the shit up. I'm fucken tired. I'm gonna shove off home." Chris got up off his chair and walked out of the room.

* * *

Chris cranked up the heat in his Corolla as he drove home. Chris recently moved to Upper East Side Brooklyn, Canarsie. He couldn't bare living all by himself in the house that his family fell apart in. It was a fairly decent house with a large living room and kitchen. Two rooms, nice furniture, sharp looking exterior. Chris hopped out of his car and paced up the walkway. He opened his mailbox and took out a few bills and an unmarked envelope. He sifted through his mail as he walked up to the door. He tore open the unmarked envelope, walked into his house, took out the letter from inside the envelope and shut the door behind him…

* * *

Cena propped himself up higher on the bed. He had finally finished telling Eddie his story. He looked at Eddie who had his thinking face on. He was trying to digest all that Cena had told him.

"So? You gonna say something? Or react at least?" Cena couldn't take the silence anymore.

"Yeah. Hmmm… that's pretty deep esse. So you still love Torrie then?" Eddie replied.

"I think so."

"Yeah. That's a problem. She's with Hunter now, and Hunter won't let her go without a fight."

"Yeah, well. I won't either."

"Does she feel the same about you?"

"I don't know. I mean she was really pissed off at me."

"Hmmm… well I'm not one to give advice on love, but I say let her go man. It's for the best." Eddie suggested

"I can't Eddie. That's just the problem. I've tried to let her go but I can't."

Eddie sat on the hard backed chair next to the bed, staring into the desperate eyes of his best friend.

"Hey, thanks for taking care of me, but I'm gonna head back to my place." John said as he gingerly climbed out of bed.

Eddie quickly grabbed Cena's arm to assist him. "You sure bro? You can crash here for as long as you want you know?"

"Yeah I know, but there ain't no place like home."

"Alright then. Here, don't forget your painkillers." Eddie said as he handed John the pill bottle. John took it gratefully and said his goodbyes as he left Eddie's house.

* * *

John got out of the cab after paying the fare. He slowly walked up to his house. He instinctively checked his mailbox and pulled out a solitary envelope. All the envelope had on it was a postage stamp and his address scrawled on the front. He opened the front door and dropped the keys in his coat pocket. He then proceeded to tear open the envelope and shut the door behind him…

* * *

(A/N) The big 50 reviews. Never thought I would actually get there, but I have and it is all thanks to you guys. Special thanks has to go out to the guys who have taken the time to review pretty much every chapter, you know who you are. The thanks is also extended to the guys who have only reviewed one or two chapters, I appreciate them all.

On a lower note, the short chapter is due to a mental block. Took me like 2 weeks to write this chapter. I am also off on a rugby camp starting Monday. Will last about a week so no updates for a while. Real sorry, however holidays in about two weeks , so expect lots to get done during that time. Anyway my authors note is going to be longer than my chapter if I don't wrap it up. So I'll say thanks again to all who have reviewed and peace till next time.


	19. The invitation

(A/N) Back from rugby camp and ready to write. Tore my quad muscle while at camp so I'll be at home for a while, which means I should get chapters up a lot faster. Enjoy.

* * *

The four leaders of Evolution sat facing each other. Hunter was talking animatedly to Ric and Randy, but Dave had zoned out. He was thinking of his girlfriend Christy Hemme. The racy redhead was indeed doing a photo shoot in L.A. The beautiful model made Dave feel something he never felt before. She was so different to all the other trashy girls Dave dated a long time ago. She was genuine. Now Hunter was threatening to take that away from him, he just couldn't let it happen.

"Hey Dave! Snap out of it dude. You willing to fight or not?" Hunter snapped at Dave.

"Huh… um… yeah, sure. Whatever." Dave stuttered.

"Ok good. So it will be you and Snitsky representing us. The invitations have already been sent to Chris and John, am I correct?"

"You know it H." Ric replied.

"Good, and if I know those two, they won't reject. We will be having ourselves an underground fighting tournament." Hunter stated.

* * *

To Whom It May Concern:

You have been invited to participate in an underground street fight competition. The event shall be held at 'Club Evolution'. Two representatives from your crew will be selected to compete against other fighters from across New York City. The fighter who emerges victorious will stand to win 250 thousand dollars for himself and his gang. Along with the cash prize, the winner will receive glory, fame and above all else, respect. To participate in this one shot deal, send your reply to 'Club Evolution' on 67th street, Manhattan, with your details, the name of your two representatives and the 500 dollar entrance fee. Thank you.

Hunter Hurst Hemsley

Triple H

Chris was seated in his recliner as he tossed the letter on the coffee table. This tournament was a waste of time. 500 dollar entrance fee is bullshit. But he could win the cash prize if he really wanted to, couldn't he? Chris cast his thoughts aside for the night. He was too tired to think at the moment. He would throw the letter out tomorrow mourning. Chris poured himself a glass of water and drank it in one gulp. He removed his shirt and jeans and made his way to the bedroom.

* * *

John Cena had just finished reading the invitation. He paced his living room as he put the letter down on the table. John was exited about this. The 250 thousand dollar cash prize would really help him pay up some loose ends. But what really got his blood going was that Hunter was heading the event. Which would mean Torrie would probably be there as well. John just couldn't get her out of his head. He slumped into his seat. He sat there thinking about the invitation when the telephone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hello? Is this John Cena?" The husky voice whispered.

"Yes. Who the hell is this?" Cena asked.

"This might come as a shock to you, but please do not hang up. It is Adam Copeland."

"What the fuck? Why the fuck are you calling me Copeland?"

"Calm down. I just want to talk. According to your boy Shawn, you could use with a little more man power."

"And you want to join us?" John said skeptically. "Go fuck yourself Adam, and don't call me again." Cena said abruptly.

"WAIT! Hold on a second there. Just let me explain my position. What you did to Chris' brother, I'm not a fan of. But I like to live by the phrase 'shit happens, move on'. Unfortunately Chris isn't moving on. He is still cranky as shit about his brother. I don't blame him though. However, when he starts to take out his frustration out on me, that's when he really gives me the shits. I can't take it anymore. I need out, you need more man power, we both profit from it. What do you say?" Edge proposed.

"Why the hell should I believe you." John said.

"Why the hell not John. Give me a chance. I'll prove it to you."

John thought silently for a moment. Edge was nervously tapping his fingers on the other side.

"Hey John, you still there bro? Fine, you know what. If you don't want me, then I'll maybe Hunter will." Edge paused for a minute to let the last statement soak in.

John knew Edge was a very capable fighter, He just didn't know if he could trust him. He then remembered the letter.

"Hey wait. I'll tell you what. Meet me at my club tomorrow night, and we can talk." Ok?" John suggested.

"Too public. Someone might see us together and tell Chris. He will kill me if he finds out. How about somewhere more secluded?"

"What about that shady warehouse in Stanton Island, you know the one just behind the fish factory." John tossed it up.

"That's fine. I'll see you there at 11:30 then?"

"Don't be late." John said as he replaced the telephone.

* * *

Chris awoke with a start. It took him a few seconds for his brain to register what woke him up. He glanced at the clock on his bedside table. It read 9:30am. He then realized that he didn't set his alarm last night and the ringing was in fact his telephone. He hopped out of bed and paced briskly to the telephone in the kitchen.

"Hello?"

"This is Mada, how is the business?" The voice on the other side said. It sounded like a silk handkerchief was placed over the mouthpiece so the voice was distorted."

"What?"

"How is the business?" The voice repeated.

"Oh... um… Could be better! That's it, could be better." Chris said, remembering the code to identify himself.

A scuffling noise was made on the other side of the line and a more familiar voice spoke to Chris this time.

"Good to hear. So how are you Chris?" Adam asked.

"Yeah, pretty good. Yourself?"

"Good. I'm good. Anyway, I think I might have broke Cena. I'm meeting him at that massive abandon warehouse on Stanton Island tonight. If all goes well, I'll officially be part of his gang by tonight."

"It could be a trap." Chris said skeptically.

"It could be, or it could be legit. Only one way to find out."

"OK fine, go ahead. But be careful."

"Don't worry, I will. You worry too much Chris. Let go. Stop being so careful. Do something crazy. Go back to being the old, exciting Chris, it'll do you a world of good." Adam advised.

"Yeah, yeah. You just go and get in John's good books and let me handle my life."

"Haha. Fine then. But you know I'm right." Adam teased.

"Go!"

"Ok, ok. I'm going. I'll talk to you later then."

"Yeah, see you bro." Chris said as he hung up the phone.

Chris went back to bed but found he couldn't sleep. He lay on his back, thinking about what Edge said, and as much as he hated it, Adam seemed to be right. He had been quite anxious about everything lately. His mind wandered back to the letter that sat on his coffee table. Chris played with the idea of entering the competition. He hadn't had a fight in quite a long time. After his brother died, he never really went anywhere except his house and his club. Chris sat up and went to get the letter off the table. He read it again and decided that he would enter. The money was something worth fighting for, but Chris wanted to prove to himself that he could still throw down with New York's roughest. He still needed to find someone to enter with him. Adam was out of the question, although he would have been his number one choice. Chris decided to call Benoit, he was sure Benoit wouldn't let him down.

* * *

Adam drove at full speed down the bridge to Stanton Island. The heater was on full blast, he snatched a look at the clock on the dashboard, 11:28pm. He was going to have to haul ass if he was going to get there on time.

* * *

John stood in the warehouse. He took off his wool gloves and rubbed his hands together to get his blood warmed up. The hood of his jumper was pulled well over his peaked cap. John then heard the noise of a car pulling up on the gravel. He hustled over to a pile of crates and hid behind as the door of the warehouse opened.

* * *

Adam walked into the warehouse. He stood at the entrance for a minute to make a mind map of the warehouse. Within the minute he had registered all the exits, hazard points, hiding places and other things. He was about 10 minutes late but saw no sign of Cena out in the open. He walked into the warehouse.

"Cena!" Edge called out.

John jumped out of his hiding place. "Hey."

"Woah! Shit. You scared the piss out of me." Edge exclaimed.

"Why? Did you think it was a trap?" John questioned.

"Well, no. But you just jumped out of nowhere. Why were you hiding anyway?" Edgerapped back.

"Never mind that. Let's not bullshit any longer."

"Never was bullshitting. I'm being honest as hell. I want to join you Cena."

"How do I know I can trust you?" Cena said, still not 100 percent certain about Adam's sincerity.

"You don't know. You are just going to have to take my word for it." Adam replied bluntly.

John stood facing Adam, pondering what to do. Then slowly he reached inside his jumper. Edge backed away slowly.

"Woah, I just came to talk bro. No need for this."

"Don't worry." John said as he pulled out a piece of paper. He handed it to Adam. As Adam read it, John studied the well built man. He had long blonde hair and a scared face. He exuded a sense of competence. Adam seemed like a man who could more than hold his own against anybody. Very reliable. Adam looked up from the paper.

"I want you to be my second fighter." John said to Edge, referring to the invitation to the tournament.

"So it's like an initiation then?"

"It's whatever you want it to be."

Now it was Adam's turn to study John. Under the hood was a strong face with prominent, good looking features. His tone was firm without being menacing. He seemed to be quite an easy going person.

"You got yourself a deal." Adam said as he extended his hand.

John took his hand and shook it firmly.

* * *

(A/N) Hey guys. I just wanted to know if this story seems realistic to you. One thing I hate is stories in which everything just seems to fall in place perfectly and boy falls in love with girl and blah blah. Does the story seem realistic? Is the dialogue realistic or is it kinda cheesy. Be honest, I can hack it. Something I wanted to do was make sure the story seemed real and limit the amount of cheesy lines. So give me feedback people and it would be much appreciated. 


	20. Last minute instructions

(A/N) Hey guys. Once again thanks for all the reviews and feedback. I appreciate it a lot. Since you guys reckon it ain't cheesy, I'll just keep writing the way I have been. Peace.

* * *

"So we got confirmation from John and Chris?" Hunter asked Randy.

"Yup. Both confirming their presence. It's gonna be huge man." Randy replied.

"Good, good. Set the date for two nights from now."

"On it. By the way, what do you hope to achieve from this anyway H?" Randy queried.

"Never you mind. Just get on the job at hand. Go! Now!" Hunter brushed Randy off.

The leader of Evolution sat in his well furnished office smiling to himself. The first part of his plan was going to fall into place in about 48 hours.

* * *

"Hello?" Chris said as he answered his phone.

"This is Mada. How is the business?"

"Could be better."

"Hey Chris." Edge said from a public telephone booth.

"Hey. How's it goin?"

"Yeah, not too bad. Hey, guess what?"

"You know I don't like guessing games. Go on. Humor me." Chris snapped.

"I'm in. At least I think I'm in. John asked me to fight for him in some tournament. Some sort of initiation I guess." Adam said.

"Woah, you're not talking about the one in 'Club Evolution' are you?"

"That is exactly the one I'm talking about. Wait, how do you know about it?"

"I got an invite as well. I'm going to fight too."

"Shit!" There was a pause on the line after the last exclamation. "Well we are going to have to play this very carefully. One wrong look and we could be gone." Adam said.

"Agreed. We'll keep our distance without being obvious."

"Ok. Well take care of yourself then." Adam bade farewell to his friend.

"Yeah, see you around."

* * *

It was the big night. John Cena was all decked out, and ready to represent. He took one last look at the exterior of "Club Evolution", the expensive gold plated sign and flashing lights did not intimidate him at all. Instead it made the fire inside him burn stronger.

"Let's go." He said to Adam, who was standing next to him.

The two of them entered the club together.

The interior was just as flashy as the outside. There was a custom built wrestling ring in the centre of the dance floor. Tables and chairs had been moved to make space for makeshift rafters which were towards the sides. A screen with a projector was at the back of the club, behind the DJ's table. An up close, action camera would project the footage onto the screen, once the fights started. The business men and their wives started to leave the club slowly as it began to fill with a more rowdy crowd. They all came to see one thing. Blood.

* * *

Chris was feeling very nervous. A number of things could go wrong tonight. Probably the one of most concern to him was Adam's cover being blown. A close second was the fact that Chris hadn't fought in months. He hadn't even been to the gym lately. Yet he was going to fight some of the most vicious men in the city. Chris brushed aside these thoughts as he arrived at the front of the club. He and Benoit got out of the car.

"How you feeling?" Jericho asked Benoit.

"Not too bad. Yourself?"

"Yeah. Not too bad." Chris lied.

"Well, you ready?" Benoit asked, still staring dead ahead.

"As I'll ever be." Were Jericho's last words as they entered the club.

When he got in, the club was packed. A line was starting to form outside of the club, with people queuing to get in. Only then did Chris realize the magnitude of the competition. He didn't have time to think about it as Benoit brought his attention to the screen at the back of the club. On it was the draw.

Chris Jericho vs. Gene Snitsky

John Cena vs. Chris Benoit

Dave Batista vs. Edge

* * *

Hunter stood on the catwalk overlooking the massive crowd which had assembled at his club to watch the competition. This was going to make him huge money. But money wasn't on Hunter's mind at the moment. The plan that would gain him the upper hand in the three way struggle for New York's underground fighting scene was on his mind. Hunter cast his thoughts aside as he made his way downstairs to his office. The team was assembled in his office, probably waiting for new orders. Snitsky was also in the office, playing with a small, sword shaped letter opener. "Alright boys, time to blow them away. Randy, Ric, you two go out now and get everything ready. I need to talk to my two fighters alone for a minute."

"On it boss." Replied Ric as the two walked out of the office.

"Now boys, tonight is a very important night. You both have your assignments, I need them to be carried out flawlessly." Hunter said, addressing Dave and Gene Snitsky. The two men just nodded.

"Snitsky, hurt Jericho and hurt him good. I want him carried out of the club tonight. You got it?" Hunter ordered.

"You got it boss." Was the bearded man's reply.

"Dave, same goes for you. You have got Edge in the first round. He's a small fry. Still hurt him though. But your main objective is Cena. If Cena wins, I'll rig the draw so you get him in the second round. Take the son of a bitch out. Once the leaders are gone, the rest of the gang will be just like a headless body. And we all know a body is useless without its head. They'll collapse by themselves."

Dave just nodded.

"Alright boys." Hunter said encouragingly, giving them both a friendly tap on the back. "Go get em!"

* * *

(A/N) Short chapter, I know. Sorry. It's building a platform for the next chapter, which should be intense. Sorry if I'm keeping you in suspense. Actually I'm not that sorry. I love it! HAHAHA. But anyway stay tuned to find out what will happen next! 


	21. Let the games begin

(A/N) Thanks for all the support. I love you all. Round one of the competition has started, and read on to see who goes on, and who goes home.

* * *

"Ladies and Gentlemen! It's time for the first fight, in Club Evolution's street fight competition. The rules are pretty simple. No low blows of any kind. No use of any foreign objects. No eye gouging, hair pulling or ear biting. Other than that, do what you will to your opponent. Kick them in the face, smash their head against your knee, punch their teeth out. All of that kinda shit is encouraged. To win, your opponent must be down on the mat and stay down for 10 seconds. Now… with all the formalities out of the way, let's get this shit started!" Randy roared through the mic which boomed out of the loudspeakers positioned all around the club, his booming voice echoing throughout the club. "First up, we got a half man, half beast, all ruthless… Gene Snitsky!"

Snitsky received a raucous applaud from Hunter's team, but the majority of the crowd hissed him. Snitsky was unfazed by this show of animosity and was ready to fight.

"His opponent for tonight, weighing in at 200 something pounds, Chris Jericho." He received a much less animated introduction from Randy.

The applause from the crowd was sort of split in half for Chris. Jericho made his way to the wrestling ring. There wasn't going to be any wrestling done in it tonight though. It was going to be an all out brawl.

The referee came between the two men.

"Now let's keep this fight fair. You two both know what is on, and what is not. If I catch you doing something illegal, it will be a warning the first time, and a straight up disqualification the second. Got it?" The ref explained.

He got a nod in reply from both men. The ref nodded to Randy to give him the heads up to start the fight.

"LET THE GAMES BEGIN!" Randy boomed.

As soon as Randy finished his sentence, Snitsky charged at Chris. Chris, who wasn't ready for such a head on attack, stumbled and was swept of his feet by Snitsky's force. Gene climbed on top of Chris and started making lemon squash out of his face. Chris tried to cover up with his hands, but Snitsky's powerful fists continued to pummel him relentlessly. Chris heaved his hips upward and struck Snitsky in the back with his knee. He went crashing to the mat. Chris got up gingerly and wiped the blood trickling from his lip. Snitsky also got up to his feet. He took a swing at Chris' face but he ducked just in time. Chris backed up to the ropes to rethink his strategy. Snitsky came charging at him again, but this time Chris was ready. He sidestepped the bull and came in with a fist of his own to the side of Snitsky's head. Snitsky was stunned for a moment but shook it off. Chris backed away again, trying to plan his next point of attack. But he couldn't think straight. The adrenalin was fucking with his brain.

"This was a fight dammit. You don't follow a plan when you fight, you just fight." Chris thought to himself.

His train of thought was interrupted when he got the wind knocked out of him thanks to Snitsky's fist. He sagged to the floor as his opponents knee connected with his jaw. Blood was now streaming from Chris' mouth as he was lifted into the air by Snitsky. Snitsky was going to throw him out of the ring, onto the floor. Chris came down with a fist to Snitsky's face, but the man was unfazed and continued his slow march to the side of the ring. Snitsky now held Chris above his head. Chris chopped at Snitsky's elbow joint, causing his arm to bend. He fell on top of Snitsky and they both crashed to the mat. Chris climbed to his feet first and came in with a foot to the face. His opponent continued to climb slowly to his feet. This time with a run up, he kicked him back down. Chris started stomping on Gene, who was struggling to catch his breath. Then out of nowhere, Snitsky came up with a fist to Jericho's groin. He screamed in pain as he fell to the floor. The ref quickly stopped the match to attend to Chris. Snitsky, who was now on his feet, started to walk towards his prey. The ref stood in his way and gave him his last warning. He pushed the ref aside and began his beat down of Chris. The ref continued the match.

* * *

Chris was in a world of pain. Everything was a blur to him. He couldn't move his legs. It was like he was paralyzed from waist down. He felt himself being punched again and again, but he barely felt it. That was the upside to the situation. He felt himself get lifted off the canvas and thrown across the ring. Snitsky was having his way with him. Out of the corner of his mind, he could vaguely here the ref counting him out. He couldn't exit the comp this early. He wasn't going to let it happen. He regained movements in his legs. He slowly climbed to his feet, breaking the ref's count in the nick of time. His opponent was obviously aggravated, believing he had the match won. Snitsky let out a scream of frustration and charged at him once more. Chris, tried to sidestep, but his legs were still wobbly. Instead he just fell to the ground. He felt Snitsky's feet crash into his torso as he sent the giant sprawling to the floor. Chris clambered up as fast as his legs would let him. The fire was burning inside of him again. Back to the days before his family was torn apart. Chris lived to fight. He felt that again. A smashed his knee into the face of his opponent. Stomping on him again and again, sending blood spewing from Snitsky's mouth. He let up, backing away to let the ref begin the count. At 8, Gene climbed to his knees, clutching his ribs. Chris advanced, grabbing him by the head. He was about to deliver a final blow to the face, when once again, Snitsky's rage got the better of him. Another blow to Chris' groin forced the ref to disqualify Snitsky.

* * *

Down on the mat again, Chris finally gathered his senses together. He put one and one together and realized that he had won the match by disqualification. Not the way he wanted to win but a win was a win. He would take it and move on to the next round. Chris gingerly got to his feet. He saw his opponent Snitsky, being grilled by Hunter.

"Not a good start for team Hunter" he thought has he climbed out of the ring.

Chris wiped his mouth, which was still trickling blood. He searched the place for Benoit, who couldn't be found, probably getting ready for his match which was next. He decided to head home. His next fight wasn't for a few days and he needed to wash himself up. Chris left the club, receiving a few 'well done' slaps on the back. Each one sending a searing pain through his aching body. He faked a smile, which was more of a grimace to all the congratulatory crowd and exited the club.

* * *

Cena was all strapped up for his fight against Benoit. Jericho had just finished his fight and had left the club. Adam tapped Cena on the shoulder.

"Hey."

"Yo. Watsup bro?" Cena asked. "You look a little nervous."

"Me… Nah. No way. I'm not nervous." Adam replied.

"Ok. Whatever. I'm just saying, if I had to fight big Dave, I would be shittin myself." Cena mocked.

"Hey. You're not helping ok?"

"Hahaha. Sorry. Anyway's good luck. I've got a fight to win. I'll see you on the flip side." Cena said as he got into the ring.

* * *

Randy had finished repeating the rules quickly and had introduced both men to the crowd. Both got an equal reception. They shook hands respectively and the ref started the match.

Benoit got the advantage early on, grounding Cena with his speed and aggressiveness. Benoit was all over Cena on the ground. Cena knew Benoit had the advantage on the ground, with his wrestling background and all. But Cena was more versed in brawling and he had to get to his feet to turn it into a street fight.

Benoit kept his opponent grounded by locking his arm behind his back. Chris landed the occasional punch to the kidneys and kept the upper hand for quite a while. Suddenly Cena's body lurched upward. Benoit was thrown off and Cena was quick to his feet. As soon as Benoit was on his feet, Cena came down on him with a knee to the jaw. Benoit was dazed bad by the forceful blow ands truggled to get back onto his feet. The ref actually got to a count of 8 before he got back up. Cena didn't let up though and started teeing off on Benoit, who failed to block a lot of the punches that were coming his way. Benoit was knocked time and time again off his feet, but still battled back up. The crowd was really getting behind the fight know, applauding both Cena's dominant resurgence and Benoit's unrivaled toughness. Cena was really punching the shit out of Benoit now, who had blood streaming from his nose and cheek. Cena took a huge wind up, in an attempt to put Benoit down for good, but Benoit ducked underneath the swing. He wrapped his arm around Cena's neck and swung him down, the back of John's head, slamming into his knee. Both men lay on the mat for a second. Benoit slowly got to his feet, but the ref was checking up on Cena. Suddenly, from behind, Ric Flair climbed into the ring, unbeknown to the referee and clubbed Benoit in the back of the head with brass knuckles. He slipped out of the ring, amidst the boos from the crowd, without the referee ever knowing what had just unfolded behind his back. Cena clambered to his feet, still clutching the back of his head, allowing the ref to start the count. Benoit lay motionless on his stomach, blood pouring from the open wound at the back of his head. Cena had no idea of the events that unfolded while he was on the mat, and went on to win the match after the ref counted Benoit out. Cena looked around in the crowd, who were making hissing noises. He couldn't figure out why they were so angry. He shrugged his shoulders and climbed out of the ring as the ref attended to Benoit.

* * *

Ric ran back to Hunter's office. Triple H had just thrown Gene out of the club and was pacing the room dangerously.

"The job is done. I couldn't get Cena, but I got the next best thing. Benoit lost the match. Cena is through to the next round." Ric said, with a sly grin on his face.

Hunter had stopped pacing around and slowly, a smile formed on his rugged face.

"Hahaha. Good work. Now Dave should get through later tonight with no problem. Then I'll rig the draw and make sure Dave is with Cena. I won't have anymore mess ups. Snitsky has been kicked off the team. I'm setting an example here, and I can't have unreliable people in my group." He growled.

"Yes sir." Ric said, as he quietly left the room, not wanting to anger the already distressed Hunter.

* * *

(A/N) Hmmm. Interesting events have unfolded. Some surprises in the winners? Edge and Batista will fight next chapter, which should be up in a few days. Oh and To Fidelitas, don't fret buddy. Christy will make her first appearance very soon. I promise. Till then, stay strong mate… 


	22. Christy comes home

(A/N) So hey everybody, I'm sensing that some people want to see more of their favorite wrestlers or favorite couples and I'm sorry, but I can't just throw everyone in at any given time. To El Chacal, Undertaker will play a more integral part later in the story, especially when things between John and Chris heat up. He will be sort of like a wildcard if you will. To wwefan01, expect a lot of John and Torrie interaction in the next few chapters. And to all the Christy lovers, she makes her appearance in this chapter, so enjoy!

* * *

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Boys and girls! Pimps and Hoes! All the fine ass ladies sittin in the back! It's time for our third and final fight for tonight. All the same rules apply from the first two fights. Blah blah blah. You guys know the drill, so let's get on with the action! Introducing first, weighing in at an impressive 300 plus pounds of pure muscle. He is Evolution's 'Animal'. The one, the only, DAAAAAAAVE BATISTAAAAA!" Randy yelled. Another raucous applause came from the Evolution cheer squad.

"And his victim… I mean opponent for tonight is Edge." Randy mocked through the loudspeaker, writing Edge off already. The crowd laughed at Randy's witty comment. Edge didn't really care. He fed off being the underdog.

The two men stood face to face in the ring. The ref stood in between the two men as they approached each other.

"Now I want a good clean fight." The ref stated ceremoniously. "Back to your corners boys and wait for my signal."

The two fighters backed off. The ref raised his hand and the bell sounded.

Batista approached Adam slowly, arms raised, ready to grab his opponent. Adam bounced around the ring, staying on his toes at all times. He knew that Dave had the size and strength advantage, but he was definitely the quicker and more agile of the two. He would have to avoid head on contact if he was to win. Dave bounded towards Adam, showing surprising speed and acceleration. Adam was caught off guard as Dave body checked him onto the mat. Edge was quick to his feet though and he recovered well. Dave paced around the ring and then again, he lunged at his opponent, but this time Adam was ready and sidestepped out of the way. This continued for a couple of minutes and the crowd was beginning to get bored. So Edge decided to liven things up. He was never going to win by just dodging all of Dave's advances. He was going to have to mount some offence of his own. So this time, when Dave came at him, he stepped to the side and jumped on his back. He wrapped his arm around his opponent's massive neck and got him in a choke hold. Dave stumbled around for a bit, trying to catch his breath. He then grabbed Adam's head and heaved him over his shoulder, sending him crashing onto the mat. Dave then dropped a knee onto Adam's chest.

Adam took in air by the mouthfuls, trying to recover from the knee to the chest. He felt himself get lifted off the mat and slammed back down again. He was in a position that he didn't want to be in. In a position where Dave was in control.

'The Animal' continued to have his way with Edge. His sheer power and strength eventually overcame Adam's agility and speed. He lifted Adam onto his shoulders and basically threw him back onto the mat. But Adam kept on climbing to his feet in the nick of time. It was a wonder how he was still in the match. Dave then hoisted Adam over his right shoulder, Adam's feet dangling limply behind him. He was going to slam his opponent into the mat. Suddenly, a great amount of force pulled him back. Dave rocked backwards, almost fell. Then another great tug and Dave came off his feet, the back of his head struck the mat with force. Both men were down and both were slow to their feet. Adam won the race by a fraction and came in with his foot aiming for Dave's face. It struck its target as Batista fell back down. He got back up quite quickly though, and Adam was on the attack again. He hit him with a few punches but Dave stayed on his feet. The big man took a swing at Edge but he ducked out of the way. Now Edge was behind the giant and toppled him with a knee to the kidney. Edge sensed victory was near as Batista took a very long time to get back up. Adam backed away to get a run up. He charged at his opponent, and came flying in with his knee aimed at Dave's torso. However Dave caught him, spun him upside down and drove his head into the mat. The impact shook the ring and Edge showed no signs of movement. The 10 count finally came and Batista won the match, but not as easy as he wanted. The referee tended to Edge, who looked to be knocked out, but eventually got to his feet.

Dave got out of the ring amidst a loud applause from the whole crowd. He walked towards Hunter's office so he could grab his stuff and leave. Hunter caught up with him along the way.

"Great stuff buddy!" Hunter said as he slapped Dave on the back. "It's good to know that I can count on someone in this team."

Dave continued to walk, looking straight ahead, not acknowledging the praise he had received from his boss. They two men entered the office as Dave collected his stuff.

"I'm gonna head off home now. Take a shower, if that's ok with you." Dave said as politely as he could.

"Yeah. Go on. You did great tonight. Go and get some rest." Hunter approved.

Without another word, Batista picked up his bags and left the club.

* * *

John got out of the shower. He had washed off quickly and was now attending to some cuts on his face. He checked himself in the mirror. Miraculously, there was not a single scar on his face. All the vicious fights he had participated in still left his face smooth and good looking. He saw a leggy blonde in the mirror, standing behind him. She was wearing a see though night gown and had a mischievous look on her face.

"When are you coming to bed honey?" The blonde bombshell said in a seductive voice.

"In a minute Stace. I just gotta finish cleaning up." John replied.

Stacy Keibler walked up behind Cena and placed a delicate had on his chest. She dropped the nightgown and pressed her naked body onto his bare back. She began breathing in his ear, trying to sex him up.

"Look, I can't concentrate with you licking at my fucken ear aight? Go to bed and I'll be with you in a minute."

Stacy huffed a little and retreated to the bedroom on his orders. John really didn't feel up to it tonight. He was tired and aching from his fight. He finished cleaning himself up and made his way to the bedroom. John had decided to stay the night at Stacy's place because he didn't feel like sleeping alone tonight. He climbed into bed and under the covers.

"Night Stace."

No reply came back. John then felt a hand on his back. Her manicured fingernails gently clawing his skin. He then felt what he guessed was her breast, press against him.

John said a little frustrated. "I ain't up for it tonight ok? Can we just go to sleep, please?"

Still no reply as Stacy continued to tickle his back.

"Please Stacy. I'm tired."

Stacy was relentless in her chase for sex. She continued to make his skin crawl. Finally John submitted and decided that the only way he was going to get a peaceful night's sleep was if he gave her what she wanted. They began to have sex and Stacy was enjoying it when John suddenly stopped. He felt sick to his stomach.

"Oh… don't stop baby." Stacy moaned through labored breathing.

John pulled himself off Stacy and went to the bathroom.

Stacy sat up in bed. "Where are you going honey? Are you okay?"

"Stace. Just shut up for a minute. I'm gonna be sick. Just go to sleep okay?" John replied harshly.

Stacy, who was utterly surprised by the rude outburst, flopped her head back in the pillow and closed her eyes. "Fine then, spoiled sport. But it's your loss, not mine." She called out.

John was hunched over the sink. He washed his face a few times and looked himself in the mirror. The wave of sickness had passed but now he was feeling depressed. He didn't want to be with Stacy, he wanted to be with Torrie. He went back into the bedroom and grabbed his shirt and pants. Slipping both on, he walked out to the living room where he plopped himself into a comfy sofa. He sat there for a minute, thinking of Torrie and decided he couldn't take it anymore. He had to call her. To at least hear her soothing voice again. He picked up the phone and dialed her mobile phone number off by heart. A few rings went by until someone picked up.

"Hello?"

John opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn't think of anything to say.

"Hello? Who is this?" Her voice rang out again. There was no noise in the background, so he assumed she was at Hunter's house by herself.

"Hellooo…" She said once again.

John desperately wanted to say something but he was at a loss for words. He started to get all choked up.

"Hey…" John managed to croak but it was too late. The mechanic sound of the beep….beep…beep… indicated that she had hung up already. John replaced the receiver and sighed to himself. This was getting out of hand. He needed to talk to her face to face. To tell her how sorry he was. Hopefully she would be at the next fight so he could do just that. He didn't care if Hunter would be there. He would fight Hunter if he had to. He needed to tell Torrie how sorry he was and nobody was going to stop him doing so.

* * *

Adam limped out of the club. He got a few hand shakes out of respect for the good fight he put up. He almost had it too. However, he would get a second chance. There were three winners, which meant another person would be needed to form the semifinal bracket. So Hunter announced that all the losers would participate in a match and the winner would become the wildcard. Adam was determined to win the match and get a second chance at the prize. He caught a cab home and got some well deserved rest.

* * *

Dave was riding in a cab on his way home. He was almost part of a major upset, but luckily his strength prevailed and he put Edge to rest. He thought about how Hunter was blackmailing him. It was devious, conniving and dirty. All the things that Hunter stood for. So it isn't that much of a surprise that Hunter would resort to threatening his girlfriends life. Dave hated it so much. He wanted out right away. He couldn't stand for Hunter's fake friendliness anymore. It was total bullshit. Tomorrow, he was going to tell Hunter to go shove it. He would take his chances with Christy and they would pull through. He was sure of it. He hopped out of the cab and paid the driver. As he walked up to his house, he thought of what he was going to say to Hunter tomorrow. He opened the door, and his plan flew out the window.

"Surprise!" Yelled the redhead sitting on his couch, as if waiting for him.

How could he compromise the life of such a beautiful thing. He couldn't. Christy meant too much to him and he was just going to have to tough it out with Hunter… for her.

"How are you Dave?"

"A lot better now."

* * *

(A/N) Argh! Sorry for Christy's miniscule part. I just couldn't fit her in earlier. Not to worry, she will have a bigger part in the next few chapters. Remember, my story isn't dead set fixed. I'm actually making most of it up as I go along. If you want someone in, tell me and I'll try my best to squeeze them in somewhere. Christy wasn't supposed to be part of the story, but someone asked me to put her in and I did. So if you think the story is missing something, tell me. 


	23. Envy

(A/N) Not much to say, except thanks for all the support. That's about it, let's do this thing.

* * *

"Hey buddy." Jericho said to his fighter, who was lying in a hospital bed.

Benoit just nodded in acknowledgement.

"Heard about your fight. About how you got blindsided. That's just bad luck man. You know how H plays."

Again, Benoit just nodded and grimaced. His head was all bandaged up and he was in bad shape.

"Well look, I just came to check up on you. I got my semifinal fight in about a week, so I'll be doing it for you, aight?"

Benoit eased back into his bed and smiled.

"Yeah, you get some rest. I'll come back and check up on you later.

* * *

Edge strode confidently into the "Club Evolution." It was the night of his fightand he was ready to get it on. The bouncer let him cut to the front of the line, to the dismay of everyone else and Edge entered the club. The scene was not much different from a few nights ago. It was jam packed, the ring, smack bang in the centre, the big screen. It was all set.

* * *

Snitsky stood nervously in Hunter's office. H had managed to track him down, and decided to give him a chance to get his job back. Maybe he performed better under pressure.

"Now look Snitksy, you better not mistake my kindness for weakness. I cannot stress enough, this is your LAST chance. You fail this, and you are through for good. You understand?" Hunter said menacingly.

Snitsky shifted his feet. "Yes sir."

"Good. Now look, after that number Ric did on Benoit, he ain't gonna compete tonight. So all you gotta worry about is Edge. You beat that punk ass, and you get your job back."

"Yes sir."

"Now go out there and get ready to win."

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen! I have a public service announcement. Due to injuries sustained in a previous fight, Chris Benoit is unable to compete tonight." Randy announced.

Loud boo's erupted from the crowd.

Randy continued over the top of them. "But we can't linger on the past, we gotta get on with the present! And presently, we are about to have ourselves a fight. Let me explain what's going to go down. Edge and Snitsky, the two losers from the first round, will face off to earn the right to join the final 4. All the same rules apply, and that's about all I have to say. So without further a due, will you please give it up for Gene Snitsky!"

Snitsky entered the ring with much less magnetism than he did before. His mind was obviously focused on getting his job back.

"And his challenger… Edge!"

Edge too, entered without much hoo hah, also focusing on the job at hand.

"I want a good clean fight from both of you." The ref said, more looking at Snitsky than at Edge.

The two men backed away to their corners and the ref started the match. The two men traded punch for punch, grapple for grapple early on, no one really taking the advantage. Snitsky would take a swing, Edge would duck under and punch Snitsky in the stomach, and Snitsky would punch Edge in the face. The match went back and forth in this fashion for a while. Both men were sore and bruised. Adam decided that he needed to step it up a notch if he was going to finish this match off. He came and his opponent, guns blazing, swinging like a mad man, but Snitsky had it scouted. He covered his face, took the blows, and when the opportunity came, he struck Edge right on the jaw. Edge went down like a sack of potatoes and he stayed down for a while. After he shook it off, he quickly scrambled to his feet to break the count. Snitsky came at Edge, not giving him any breathing space. Punches were flying in, a couple of knees here and there, and Edge was in no shape to defend himself. He was still dazed from that last punch. Adam was getting his ass beaten all over the place.

Snitsky was beginning to get a little cocky, feeling that the match had swung his way. He began to try and work the crowd, instead of concentrating on his man. He had beaten Edge to the mat once more, and now had his back to his opponent. He was working the crowd into a blood thirsty frenzy. Edge, spurred on by the noise, crept to his feet. He smashed his fist into Snitsky's kidney region, and the big man was hurting. Edge took control of the match from there on in and beat Snitsky to a bloody pulp. The bearded monster was now getting desperate. He was fighting a losing fight and desperate times called for desperate measures. He climbed to his knees, enough to break the ref's count. Edge came over and began to pick him up. He was now in the same position as he was with Jericho. Snitsky saw his opportunity and stuck with the fist to his opponents groin. Edge flopped around on the mat, screaming in agony. Snitsky climbed to his feet and the ref came up to his face. He started yelling something at him but Snitsky wasn't listening. The ref went and checked on Edge, and started the match again. Snitsky came down on Edge hard, sledging the crap out of his opponents face. Snitsky continued his barrage for a few minutes and the crowd went absolutely crazy every time Edge stumbled to his feet. Snitsky was getting more and more frustrated by the minute, seeing that he couldn't put his opponent away.

Adam had lost a lot of blood. He could barely see straight, but he knew that it was now or never. He wasn't going to get a third chance. When he climbed to his feet once again, the noise the crowd made almost knocked him back off his feet again. Snitsky, his face redder than ever, let out a yell of frustration, spit flying everywhere. Snitsky came at Edge, striding towards the bloodied fighter. Edge saw his opportunity there and then. He leaped out of the standing postion and spear tackled Snitsky onto the mat. Now it was Edge's turn to have a beat down on his opponent. The crowd was practically yelling his name as Edge came in with his fists. Snitsky grabbed Adam's hair and opened his mouth to try and bite at his face, but Edge scouted that illegal move and punched Snitsky in the mouth. His knuckles were split open, but he managed to knock a few teeth out. Edge got off Snitsky, who was now squirming on the floor, clutching his bloody mouth. Edge came in with his boot to his opponents face and Snitsky lay motionless. The ref got to ten and the crowd went nuts.

* * *

John was riding in his car, heater on full blast. He drove out to his club. John needed some time to think things over. Everything had been moving so fast lately, that he rarely had anytime to himself. When he got there, he hurried into the club, not willing to spend much time in the biting cold. He was greeted by the warmth of a packed club. John took off his coat and made his way to his office. When he got there, he saw someone making themselves way too comfortable in his chair.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're…" John started, but didn't get to finish as his voice startled the person in his chair and he swung around to face John.

"Oh Shawn. I didn't know it was you."

"It's alright man. I was just chilling in your office for a while. It's way too crowded out there."

"Yeah, right. I know what you mean. Hey listen, you think I could get some alone time here. I need to think." John said.

Shawn reluctantly got out of John's chair.

"Thanks man." John said as he settled himself behind his desk.

As Shawn was walking out he muttered to himself, "One day John. You just wait. One day, this will all be mine."

* * *

Edge had managed to get himself cleaned up and patched up by the referee. The ref wouldn't let him go home. He insisted that he needed to be treated now so Adam let him sew him up. He got out of the chair and thanked the ref. The crowd went crazy again and Edge wondered what they were screaming about. He looked up at the screen and saw the draw for the semifinal.

John Cena vs. Dave Batista

Chris Jericho vs. Edge

"Shit!" Edge said to himself. "Now we got areal problem."

* * *

(A/N) Some interesting twists have unfolded in this chapter. Should leave you guys thinking for a while. Anyway sorry once again for not putting Christy in. Havn't been myself lately. Mind is not ticking properly, as you can probably see from the qualityof the chapter. I promise she will make a real appearance very next chapter. Promise! 


	24. Contained rage

(A/N) I will, as always, make true on my promise. Christy will make a big shiny appearance in this chapter. However I do not own her or any of her buddies, just incase you forgot. So I don't want any more law suits. Heheheh… on with the story…

* * *

Chris was lying in his bed, trying to get some sleep when his phone rang. He was slow in getting out of bed to pick up the phone. When he got there, he was greeted with a distorted voice.

"How's the business Chris?" The strange voice asked.

"Could be better."

"Good. Chris we got ourselves a problem." Adam's voice rang out nervously. He had placed a silk handkerchief over the mouth piece earlier to distort his voice.

"You forgot to tell me who you are." Chris pointed out the lapse in procedure.

"God damn it Chris. You know it's me. Now is seriously not the time to fuck around Chris. Not the fucking time." Adam's voice rapped back. He was practically shaking.

"What's wrong Adam?" Chris asked, sensing that Adam had something important to tell him.

"Damn it Chris. I've gotta fight you."

"What?"

"In the damn tournament. Chris, it's me versus you. What the fuck are we going to do? Huh, what the fuck are we going to do?"

"Woah, hold up there. We are going to take deep breaths, and back up 1 sec. Are you talking about Hunter's stupid tournament?"

"Yes. Chris, our cover is blown."

"No it's not. Don't worry." Chris said. At the moment, he was definitely the calmer of the two. It was up to him to think of a plan. Except nothing was coming to him. He could see no easy way out. He wasn't going to forfeit. No way. He couldn't make Edge forfeit. Cena would get suspicious. And he doubted whether Edge would anyway. The only way to get through this, was to fight.

"We gotta fight." Chris finally said.

"What?"

"We gotta fight. That's the only way."

"I ain't gonna fight you Chris. No fucking way."

"Well if you can think of another way to get out of this without blowing your cover, tell me man. Cause I would like to solve this another way. But at the moment we are stuck up shit creek without a paddle. Fuck that, we don't even have a fucking boat. We are waist deep in this man, and there is no easy way out."

Silence descended upon the telephone line as Adam took his time to soak in Chris' reasoning.

"So we are really gonna do this then?" Adam finally asked.

"I guess we are."

"Well then, may the best man win."

* * *

The chilly night air bit into her skin as she wrapped herself up tighter in the woolen jumper. She hopped into the waiting car and felt the heat of the radiator kiss her skin. The redhead took off the woolen jumper and sat back in the chair.

"I don't think it is a good idea that you come Christy." Dave said, putting his car into reverse and pulling out of the driveway.

"We've been through this already Dave. I will support you no matter what you do, ok?" Christy said stubbornly. "Don't worry about me. I'm a big girl."

"I know that. It's just that the crowd there won't exactly be desirable."

"Dave, don't worry." Christy stressed.

Dave didn't say anything else. He was obviously worried about his girlfriend watching him participate in illegal proceedings, even though she constantly reminded him that she was brought up in a rough neighborhood where street fights were the norm.

Dave pulled up into his employee park space, right up the front of the club. He got out and escorted Christy to the door. They both entered together.

* * *

John Cena was walking around a packed 'Club Evolution'. This tournament was doing wonders for Hunter's club. Maybe he should organize something like this later on. But Cena pushed all plans aside as he scanned the place for a certain blonde haired beauty. He had about ten minutes before his fight against Batista, and he was desperate to find her. She was nowhere to be seen, so he relegated his task of finding and talking to her for after the match. Because currently, he was about to compete in probably his toughest match to date. Dave Batista was certainly going to be a very tough fight and Cena was going to need full concentration if he was going to stand a chance.

* * *

All the formalities had been said and dealt with and the two fighters faced off. The match began viciously. Both men were fighting at a quick pace and the crowd was certainly getting their monies worth. Cena and Dave traded blow for blow, both men holding their own against each other. The match continued at the same entertaining pace as it began for a couple of minutes until both men were worn out.

Dave was hitting Cena with everything he had but the man still wasn't succumbing to his power.

"What the hell do I have to do to make this guy stay down?" Dave thought to himself.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Christy cheering him on. He couldn't think about her now. He needed to concentrate on the fight. A fist collided with the side of his face. That was the price he paid for the lapse of concentration. Just a second of indecisiveness could cost him the game. But Dave bounced back and hit John with a fist of his own. The two men were even again.

John was getting a little frustrated. He had been the one making all the advances. Dave was just sitting back. John just couldn't knock this giant down if he wasn't going to come for him. John went in again with a fist and then a knee. Dave staggered back but came at him. John got a fist to the stomach for his troubles. Dave took a big swing at John's head but he ducked under just in time. The opportunity had arisen and John made no error on capitalizing. He brought his knee up to Dave's stomach. He hit him with his knee again and again until 'The Animal' finally fell to his knees. John backed up a bit and ran in with his foot which smacked Dave in the face. John now had the upper hand.

John continued his beat down of his opponent, not giving him any breathing space because he knew that if he gave Batista just one opening, he would be a goner. John had knocked Dave down onto the mat once again and he backed off so that the ref could begin the count. He turned around and his stomach did a back flip inside him. His eyes locked with hers and immediately he could sense her pain. A sharp pain of his own pierced his chest as he began to choke up. John just stood there, staring at Torrie, oblivious to the fact that the ref had stopped his count at 6 because Dave was now on his feet. Suddenly John was thrown into a world of pain as Dave clubbed him in the back of the neck. Dave damn near decapitated his opponent, and 'The Animal' knew that his prey was now easy pickings. He picked John up off the mat and threw him on top of his shoulders. He proceeded to driving him back down on the mat and the whole club shuddered under the impact. Even the crowd sensed that Dave had the match won and they were slowly turning to Dave's side.

John's vision was blurry. He could see basic shapes and colors, but they were all unrecognizable. He still hadn't entered the stage where he began to feel numb and pain shot threw his whole body every time Dave hit him. He couldn't focus. His mind was somewhere else. His mind was with Torrie. He couldn't let this happen again. He wouldn't. He clenched and unclenched his fist to get the blood pumping. His vision was slowly, but surely returning. Just as he felt that he could get up without Dave's help, he felt himself get lifted off the mat. Once again he was perched high up on Batista's shoulders. He lifted his head slightly to look at Torrie. She had a worried expression on her face. John raised his forearm and brought it down on Dave's face. The giant man stumbled. He brought it down again and again and again and Dave had no choice but to drop Cena. John slowly got to his feet to see Dave charge at him like a raging bull. He got low and wrapped his arms around Dave's piston like legs. He felt Dave's body mass crash into his shoulders as Dave fell onto the mat in a text book tackle. John scrambled to his feet as fast as he could and got Dave in a head lock before the large man could get up.

Batistafelt his oxygen supply slowly get cut off. He felt exhausted. He tried to stand up but his legs gave way under the combined weight of the two men. He managed to get an arm free and he punched Cena in the back. The grip loosened slightly. He punched again and again, it loosened. Dave took his time to catch his breath before Cena tightened his grip again. But that few seconds was all Dave needed, as the oxygen rushed through his body. He forced himself to push with every muscle in his body and he managed to get to a vertical position. He wrapped his arms around Cena's waist and with a great show of strength, he lifted Cena off the mat.

Cena felt his feet leave the floor. Dave had lifted him in the air and was about to drive him back down into it. If he succeeded, John knew that this fight would be over. He struggled like a madman to try and throw Dave off balance…and it worked. Dave fell. The large man stuck his hand out to try and break his fall but the combined weight of the two fighters caused his arm to bend in a way that it wasn't supposed to. John had heard the loud crack followed by Dave's screams of pain. He got to his feet and saw 'The Animal' lying on the ground clutching his arm. He could see the bone protruding out of the skin in a sickening way and he knew that only meant one thing.

He looked at the ref but he didn't stop the match. Randy had never said anything about this and so both him and the referee didn't know what to do under these circumstances. John saw a beautiful redhead holding her face, a frightened expression plastered on it. She seemed set to cry. He guessed it was Dave's girlfriend. He then shifted his glance to his ex girlfriend. Torrie still had that same anxious expression as before. John just wanted to go over there and wipe the sadness out of her eyes with a kiss. But the screaming of the crowd brought him back to reality. They wanted him to finish the job. Dave was now on his knees, still holding his arm. Dave was never going to be able to mount a comeback with one arm and he knew it too. So John backed up to the ropes. He charged at his opponent. Dave made no attempt to dive out of the way, but instead, he seemed to have accepted his fate. John's foot collided with Dave's face and Batista fell to the mat. The referee had no choice but to count Dave out and announce John the winner. The doctor of Thuganomics was the first fighter into the finals.

* * *

John hopped out of the ring and walked straight for his target. He made didn't even bother to clean himself up first. He just didn't care. He needed to talk to her, and that was just what he was going to do.

* * *

Christy rushed into the ring once the match was deemed over. She bent down and held Dave's head in her hands.

"Oh my god… Baby. Are you ok? Oh please say something." She practically sobbed.

"I told you not to come." Dave replied.

"Oh I know. But I wanted to. I wanted to support you. Come on, lets go get you cleaned up and get that arm in a cast." She proposed as the two of them exited the ring together.

When they stepped down, they were greeted by a furious Hunter.

"YOU FUCKING GOOD FOR NOTHING SON OF A BITCH! I GIVE YOU ONE SIMPLE JOB, AND YOU CAN'T EVEN PULL IT OFF! YOU LOUSY…"

However, he was interrupted by an equally furious Christy. "HOW DARE YOU TALK TO DAVE LIKE THAT! HE DID HIS BEST IN THERE AND THAT IS ALL YOU SHOULD EXPECT OF HIM! IF YOU WANT SOMETHING DONE, THEN WHY THE HELL DON'T YOU DO IT YOURSELF THEN, INSTEAD OF GETTING DAVE TO DO ALL THE DIRTY WORK FOR YOU!"

Hunter was momentarily stunned by the ferociousness of the redhead, but quickly regained his composure. "Listen you slut, don't you dare talk to me like that, unless you don't want to have the ability to talk ever again."

At this comment Dave damn near lost his cool. He put his good arm in front of Christy and gently pushed her back. He stood face to face with Hunter, Both their noses almost touching. Hunter whispered something that only the two of them could hear.

"Uh uh uh. Don't do anything you will regret Dave. For your sake. Oh, and for Christy's sake."

The threat had it's effect as Dave backed down.

"I'm sorry boss. I shouldn't have lost the match and I promise it won't happen again." Dave said. He grabbed Christy's wrist and dragged her away to the dressing room.

"What the hell Dave?" She asked. "Hunter has no right. Absolutely no right to treat you like that. Damn it, you deserve better."

"Just drop it Christy. Please." He begged.

Christy sensed the desperation in his voice, but decided now would not be the best time to confront him about it. Instead she kept quite and accompanied Dave to get patched up. Christy was beautiful, talented, smart, but also very stubborn. She made a promise to herself there and then to get to the bottom of this. She knew Dave wouldn't just back down like that. Something had to be wrong and she wasn't going to rest until she found out what it was.

* * *

"Torrie!" John called out.

"Torrie! Wait, please. I just want to talk. Torrie!" she still wasn't turning around. John started to run and eventually weaved his way around the crowd and caught her. He grabbed her shoulder and she spun around.

"Leave me alone John! I don't want anything to do with you." She scolded.

"Now I know that ain't true. You don't mean it. C'mon please, I just want to talk to you."

Torrie looked into his eyes. She saw the determination. The tenacity. The ferociousness. All the traits of good fighter. But she also saw kindness, and love. Love for her.

"John, I can't. I'm with Hunter now. And Hunter would never lie to me. Not like you did."

"Torrie, please let me explain. Just give me a few minutes of your time. Look I didn't lie to you. I didn't kill Rick Jericho. I swear to you. I was there, I admit, but I give you my word, I did not pull the trigger."

"John, your word means nothing to me. Now please, just leave." Torrie said as she began to walk away.

"TORRIE! WAIT!" John called out. He ran after her but felt a fist collide with his face. John fell to the floor and grabbed his nose. He looked up to see who had punched him. Hunter loomed over him.

"What the hell do you think you are doing? Huh? You think you can just harass my girl without getting beaten down you little punk." Hunter said, already in a sour mood.

John got to his feet. He took a swing at Hunter's face and hit him square on the jaw. Hunter stumbled back. For a second, he was unsure whether or not he should strike back. But he couldn't just walk away. His reputation would be torn to pieces. Hunter believed fear meant loyalty. He couldn't let a punk ass like Cena jeopardize his rule. Hunter lunged at Cena and both men went crashing to the ground. Arms were flying everywhere and the crowd made way for this unofficial brawl. Randy and Ric rushed to Hunter's aid. They pulled Cena off Hunter and held him down. Hunter got up and brushed himself off. He then kicked Cena in the head.

"YOU DIRTY MOTHER FUCKER! YOU ARE GONNA PAY! I CAN MAKE YOUR ALREADY PITIFUL LIFE EVEN MORE MISERABLE! DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? DO YOU KNOW WHO THE FUCK I AM? I'M TRIPLE H YOU BITCH! AND YOU, YOU ARE A NOBODY. A FUCKING LOSER!" Hunter roared he continued to kick John while he was on the ground. Torrie jumped in the way.

"Hunter! Stop! That's enough. Let's just go." She cried.

Hunter stopped for a second. He looked down at John who was now coughing blood. He spat on him and kicked him in the ribs one more time for good measure.

"Ok. Let's go boys. Leave this piece of trash to rot." He said as they all retreated back into Hunter's office.

John lay there, spectators crowding around him to see if he was alright. Blood continued to spurt from his mouth as he muttered the words "Torrie…I…I didn't lie t…to…to you."

* * *

(A/N) Wow… long chapter that. And in it, a lot of interesting things happen. So John is the first into the finals. Surprised? Well a lot more surprises to come. Seems my writing block has passed by. Had lots of fun writing that chapter. Hope you have just as much fun reading it. Peace. 


	25. A fine line

(A/N) Hey guys. Thanks for all the reviews. I really do appreciate them. Hoping to get 100 reviews soon. I hope that everyone that is reading my story is reviewing, at least just once. Just so that I know about how many people my story is reaching. I know I can't force ya…but just do it…or else…okaaaay…awkward silence…hmmm…on with the story then…

* * *

It had been weeks since the last fight at 'Club Evolution'. Some minor delays, but finally the night of Chris' fight was on. He was in a dilemma. He didn't want to go too hard at Edge tonight, in fear of hurting his friend badly. He was sure Edge would do the same as well. But if he didn't go hard enough, John would suspect something. Cena was going to be there watching. Chris guessed that Cena wanted to make sure that Edge was for real. Chris was in a dilemma.

* * *

Adam and Cena were sitting at a table at 'Club Evolution' sipping drinks. Cena was downing shot after shot of hard whisky. Adam was drinking ice water. He needed to have his nerves about him for his fight which was set to go down in minutes. It would be a complicated matter. The line between fighting for real and putting on a show would be very fine. He had to be careful not to cross it on either side.

"How you feeling? Fightin aginst your old boss an shit?" Cena asked. His words seemed a little slurred. Like he was drunk. But it was all a show. If Adam though Cena was drunk, he might open up to him a little more. Cena was all about playing the game.

"Normal, I guess. It'll be the same as all those other shmucks. I'll put him down faster than you cum." Edge joked.

"Hahaha. Very funny lucky loser. You just remember that you are only in this cause you got a second chance. Where as me, I got in legit." Cena shot back.

"Hey, did you think about what would happen if I won tonight? I would have to fight you."

"And your point is…"

"Well, we are partners right? I can't hit my partner." Edge thought out loud.

"Hey man. This is street fighting. It ain't about partners or homies. It's about fighting. Once you start, all dat shit bout friendship and family goes out the window. In my opinion, you only really know a man after you have fought him. Ya herrr."

Adam thought about that statement for a while. John had know idea how much relevance that statement had for tonight's fight.

"Besides, it's not that you can't hit me because I'm your partner. You wouldn't be able to hit me because I'd dance circles around you all night homie. I'd drop you faster than yo momma dropped you."

The two men joked for a little while longer until Randy started to state the rules, his voice booming out of the loudspeakers.

"Now with all that legal mumbo jumbo out of the way, let's get down to it. Fighting for the right to face John Cena in the final is EDGE!"

Edge gave a final good luck handshake to Cena and stepped into the ring. He spotted Chris, behind a group of spectators, pushing to get to the ring. His stomach lurched. He was going to have to fight his best friend since third grade. Adam and Chris never had so much as push and shove. Their longest argument lasted about a week, and it wasn't about anything as big as this. In fact it was about a stupid girl in the fifth grade. All the memories came flooding back to Adam. But reality struck. He was going to have to fight Chris for real. And he was going to have to give it everything he had.

"And standing in his way to the finals, is CHRIS JERICHO!" Randy yelled.

Chris stepped into the ring to face his opponent. He stared his best friend in the eyes. Just by looking at him, he could tell what Adam was thinking. He was loathing this just as much as he was. But Chris had a job to do. The fact that if he won, he would get a chance at Cena had not crossed his mind until now. If he beat Adam, he would get a shot at avenging his brother's death. At least partially. He wouldn't be satisfied until both Cena and Shawn lay 6 feet deep.

The match had started. Chris and Edge were both a little subdued in the beginning, both trading small blows, but nothing major. It was Edge who decided he needed to make it a little more convincing. He began his advance on Chris, slowly pacing towards him, calculating his next move. As Edge took a swing, Chris ducked, which was what he was counting on. Edge brought his knee up hard, smacking Chris on the jaw. He went down. Edge shot a quick glance at Cena, who was cheering furiously. Edge did not let up as he picked Chris up off the mat and started beating him down. Every hit sent a shot of pain through Chris' body, and a wave of regret through Adam's.

* * *

Chris was being manhandled. By his best friend. There were a few times that Chris could have taken the advantage, but he hesitated. Edge didn't hesitate. He saw his opportunity and he struck. Chris was bleeding from his mouth. Edge had apparently become a more seasoned fighter as the years passed. He had become ruthless. Maybe too ruthless. What if Edge had turned. What if Edge was playing Chris like a puppet… No way. Adam, his best friend wouldn't turn. But maybe Edge, the fighter would. This new outlook on the plan sent uncertaintyflooding intoChris' head. But Chris had to leave the thinking for later. He had to get back into the fight. Chris decided to let the fighter inside of him take over. Next time, he wouldn't hesitate. He would hit Edge just as hard as he hit everyone else. And then, his opportunity came. He was lying on the ground, and Adam was slow in walking over towards him. Adam began picking Chris up. He must have thought he would be too hurt to strike back. But Chris was playing possum. Chris took a last look at Adam's face through his own eyes. He hesitated for a second, but he let himself be controlled by the fighter inside. He didn't see Adam's face anymore. He saw his enemy's face. Chris shot up like a bullet, his legs exploding like powder kegs. His head collided with Edge's chin and both men went down. Both stayed down for quite a while but the ref couldn't start the count until one of them was up. Chris was clutching his head. Blood was trickling out of the cut obtained from the impact of Edge's chin. Adam lay prone on the ground close to him. He wasn't moving.

"Maybe he is knocked out." Chris thought to him self. Chris got to his feet as quick as he could so that the ref could start the count. He wanted to get this over with, so he wouldn't have to fight his friend anymore. He didn't want to have to let the fighter out again. But Edge had plans of his own. He stirred. He had now crawled onto all fours, trying to shake off the previous hit. But he had to be able to at least kneel on two legs for the ref to stop the count. The ref was on nine when Edge rocked back onto his knees. He was now kneeling on two feet so the ref continued the match. Chris swore under his breath, but knew what he had to do. He had to see it until the end.

Edge was absolutely out of it. He still hadn't completely shaken off the effects of Chris' head butt. And he wasn't going to get a chance either, because Chris was on the attack once again. Adam was lifted off his knees. A punch to his face made him stumble back. He was backed up against the ropes, trying to cover up from Chris' blows which were coming in from every direction. Chris was relentless. Adam caught a glimpse of Chris' eyes. They were glazed over. Like they were made of ice. The emotion wasn't there anymore, like it usually was. Chris was a different person. Edge tried desperately to mount his own offence, but failed time and again. Chris was just too agile for his uncoordinated swings. However he got a lucky break moments later. He sort of fell just as Chris took a swing. Chris' arm got caught in the ropes and Edge saw his window of opportunity open up. He grabbed his opponents legs, and swept them off the mat. Chris fell onto the mat and Edge climbed on top of him. Edge started teeing off on his friend. Chris tired to cover up, but Adam's powerful swings made it hard for him. Chris heaved his hip upwards and threw Edge off. Jericho climbed to his feet but Edge was on him again. Swinging and ducking. Weaving and striking. Edge was running on adrenaline right now. He found a new source of energy and made the most of it. Edge had now made Chris bleed heavily. His opponents face looked like something from a horror movie. But just as suddenly as the momentum had turned, it turned back just as quickly. The adrenaline had run out and now Adam was dead on his feet. He began to stumble around and fell limply to the mat. He had over exhausted himself, the effects of the concussion were starting to wear in as the adrenelin wore out. The ref sensed something was wrong as did Chris.

Chris was on his feet. The ref had stopped the match momentarily to check on Adam. Chris was worried for his friend. Had Chris crossed that fine line when he lashed out and head butted him? He could seriously be hurt now. The ref had finished checking up on Edge and decided that there was nothing he could do but resume the match. He started his count, to get the match over and done with so that he could get proper treatment to the hurt fighter.

"Please stay down Adam. Please stay down. I don't want to fight you anymore. Just stay down for your sake, and for mine." Chris prayed. Once again, Edge had different plans.

* * *

John was cheering hard. He was willing Edge on. John got the shock of his life when Edge started to get up again though. He seriously thought the match was over when Edge collapsed, but he started to get up. The crowd went absolutely mad, and so did he. This guy was the real deal. He was tough. And by god did he have the will to fight. Maybe he was true on his word like he said. He would never know if he didn't give him the chance. So at that point, John decided to give Adam his full trust.

* * *

"Fuck!" Chris swore under his breath. What was it going to take to keep him down? He knew that Edge was tough, but with the amount of pain Edge had endured during the match, it surprised Chris that he could even move.

* * *

Adam had finally made his way to his feet. He looked at Chris, who had a frustrated expression on his face. He also had a worn expression. Like he was mentally, physically and emotionally drained. But Adam still had some fight in him left, and he wasn't going to let up until that fight was gone. Chris charged at him, tackling him to the ground. Edge quickly rolled out of potential danger. The crowd had sort of swung his way, and he used that to his advantage. Once again Chris came at him, but his time Adam moved out of the way. Chris spun around to take a swing but he ducked. Adam punched Chris in the stomach, and he doubled over. He slammed his fist in again and Chris sagged to his knees. A huge fist to the jaw sent Chris sprawled out on the mat. The momentum had shifted. Adam was actually going to do it. Chris got up groggily to his feet. Adam came in swinging. Chris was in no shape to dodge anything and just took all the hits head on. But if Chris was anything, he was tough as nails, and Adam knew that. He knew it would take something very special to put him away. Edge crashed his knee into Chris' abdomen and he stumbled onto his knees. Edge saw an opportunity to finish Chris off. He backed up, and charged in, looking to smash his knee into Chris' face. But Chris was ready. He sprung up andslammed his shoulder into Adam's torso. He then wrapped his arms around his opponent's legs and lifted him clean off the mat. Chris had spun Edge into an almost vertical upside down position and drove his head into the mat in a perfectly executed tackle. Edge was knocked out for the count.

"CHRIS JERICHO IS THE WINNER!" The ref yelled as soon as he finished counting Edge out. Chris stood up to survey the damage. He took one look at his best friend, sprawled out on the mat, bloodied and battered and probably concussed, and he instantly felt a pang of guilt. He had done that to his best friend. Chris certainly didn't feel like a winner.

* * *

The crowd was on their feet. Both applauding the gracious winner, the determined loser, but mostly applauding one of the greatest fights ever to be showcased. Chris took one more look at Adam, who was being attended to by medical staff, before leaving the ring. After he was also patched up by the medical staff. He was about to leave theclub when Randy's voice called out from the loudspeakers.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! WE NOW OFFICIALLY HAVE OUR TWO FINALISTS! COMING SOON, WILL BE THE FIGHT OF THE CENTURY! CHRIS JERICHO VS JOHN CENA!"

Chris stopped dead in his tracks. Reality had struck him. He had won and now he was in the finals with a chance at the prize money and the chance at John Cena. He turned around to see John staring at him. Their eyes locked. Chris turned around and left as John also turned to help Edge out of the ring. The match was set.

(A/N) So we got our two finalist. Surprised? Happy? Mad? Tune in next time to find out what happens.


	26. Good times, bad choices

(A/N) Well, got some personal news for all of you. It does affect the story in some way so it's not just me bitching about my life. Firstly, my doctor told me to wait two more weeks before playing any sport, on account of my quad. However, being the stupid, ignorant person I am, I disobeyed him. Accept it wasn't my quad which was the problem, I pulled my back…lol. I guess I am just injury prone. So I'll be at home for a while longer. However, school has started, and exams are fast approaching. So I'm going to have to fit this story around, school work, revision and other shit. So bear with me please. Updates will come, just not as frequently. So now that's over and done with, on with the story…

* * *

Chris was sitting at home all by himself. It had been a week since his fight with Edge and he still hadn't received any word from his friend.

"Was he really hurt? Did John find them out? Or even worse… did he turn? No way! No fucken way!" Chris thought to himself. Adam would never turn his back on him the way Shawn did to his brother.

"Shawn." He said to himself. He was thinking about his brother's betrayer when the phone rang.

"Hello?" Chris answered the phone.

"Hello Chris." The voice on the other line said, in an almost mocking tone.

"Who the hell is this?"

"I think you know Chris."

It was weird, how sometimes, when you are thinking of somebody, and that same somebody bumps into you on the street, or sends an email to you, or calls you on the phone, just as you are thinking of them.

"It's you!" Chris hissed. "You dirty mother fucker. When I get my hands on you, you slimy little worm, I'm going to ring your fucking neck."

"Hey. Calm down alright. I just want to talk."

"What the fuck makes you think I want to talk to you Shawn? You killed my brother. You betrayed his trust. Why the fuck do you think I would want to talk to you?" Chris was livid now. The nerve of the bastard. Calling, asking to talk.

"Hey, incase you forgot, I had the chance to reunite you with Rick, but I didn't. You remember right? That night in my house, when you tried to get me." Shawn replied.

Chris never did understand that. Shawn had the perfect opportunity to kill him that night, but he didn't. Why? An eerie silence had descended on the phone line.

"Have I got your attention?" Shawn finally asked.

Chris could tell that Shawn was smiling to himself. Chris was all ears.

"So I bet you wanna know why I didn't put you six feet deep that night."

Chris kept silent. He just wanted to listen, not talk. Not argue. Just listen.

"To tell you the truth, I was contemplating it. I was thinking about putting an end to the Jericho family right there and then. But your friends interrupted me before I could come to a final decision so I just bolted. Good thing I let you live too, because now I got you in my back pocket." Shawn stated smugly.

"Oh? How so?"

"I know all about your little scheme Chris. John may fall for it, but not me. I'm way too smart."

"What scheme? What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Oh don't play stupid with me Chris. But listen. You can act like you don't know what I'm talking about for as long as you want, but I know the truth. Look, I fancy myself as a pretty fair guy. So I'll tell you what, I won't turn your best buddy in just yet. But you remember this Chris. Just remember this conversation."

"Wait Shawn!" but it was too late. Shawn hung up the phone.

"FUCK!" Chris cursed out loud. "I've got to get him out."

* * *

Adam spun around as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Woah, calm down there big fella."

"Jesus. You scared the shit out of me." Edge said.

John took a seat next to Edge.

"I'll have a beer thanks." John said to the bartender.

Edge who was previously sitting alone at a bar, drowning his sorrows, was now accompanied by John.

"So whatcha doin here?" Edge asked.

"I was just about to ask you the same question."

Edge smiled a little. His head was still bandaged up from his fight against Chris.

"Oh, just thinking about everything and nothing."

John nodded his thanks to the bartender when he got his drink.

"Don't think I ever got a chance to congratulate you on an awesome fight. Everyone is still talking about it one week on." John said.

"I didn't win though did I? The son ova bitch stole it from me." Edge replied.

"Don't matter that you didn't win. You put up one hell of a fight. And if it is any consolation to you, you earned my respect." John said sincerely as he gave him a slap on the back.

"Thanks bro."

John lowered his head and brought his voice to barely above a whisper "But hey, there was a reason I busted my ass to track you down. I've got a proposition. A deal."

"Oh? What kind?"

"Only one thing I can tell you about it right now. It aint legitimate."

"That's the best kind of deal."

"Should we head back to the club? We can talk about it more openly there."

"Let's go then." Edge said as he and John downed their drinks and paid the tab. The two men then proceeded to leave the club.

* * *

Dave and Christy had just finished making love and the two lay next to each other in bed.

"Hehe. I told you I was just as good with one arm." Dave joked.

"Boy are you ever."

Dave put his good arm around Christy's neck and let her rest her head on it. They lay there in silence for quite a while.

"Dave, is everything alright between you and Hunter?" Christy finally asked the question she had been meaning to ask ever since that night.

Dave was thrown off balance by the question. "Um…yeah. Of course. Why wouldn't they be?"

Christy cocked her head to the side, as if she were thinking hard about something. "I dunno. Things just seem a little tense between you two."

"Tense doesn't even begin to describe things between me and Hunter." Dave thought to himself. But instead he said "No, no. Everything is fine. Don't worry about it."

Still Christy wasn't convinced. She decided she would do some investigating of her own the next day. Until then, she would enjoy the comfort of being in Dave's arms.

* * *

Chris had been a nervous wreck for the past few days. For one, his match with John wouldn't be too far away. Hunter was really building this one up to be a blockbuster. But the thing that was eating him up more than that was the fact that Adam hadn't contacted him yet. It was almost two weeks since the fight and he needed to speak to him very badly. Then one day, when Chris came back from dinner, he saw that he had a message on his phone. He pressed the play button and that familiar distorted voice came on. Chris was all ears.

"Hey. This is Mada. I presume the business is doing well? If it is, I would like you to meet me under the 'first time tree'. The day and time we had the closest shave of our lives. I'll be waiting for you there." The beep at the end signaled the conclusion of the message. Adam never missed a trick. An apparently pointless message gave Chris all the information he needed. The 'first time tree' was the huge oak tree that stood by itself in a concrete car park. Both of them had lost their virginity under that tree in the 11th grade, hence the name. The time and day of the closest shave of their lives. That was the time when the two of them almost got caught trying to steal weed from this kid back in the 10th grade. They had waited until 11 o clock, 2 hours in the freezing cold, for the lights to go out in the house. Except the dog was still awake inside, and barked like a bitch. The kid's dad chased them out with a shotgun. But what day was it? Chris was having trouble remembering. He knew it was the day before the year 10 dance. And that was always on the Friday. Which meant that it was Thursday. Today.

"Shit. Adam was smart." Chris thought to himself. He was buzzing with excitement. Chris had 2 hours to get ready.

* * *

Chris was driving as fast as his little car would let him. It was still pretty early, and there were a fair few cars around. Chris honked his horn, and weaved around traffic. He made it to the agreed spot with five minutes to spare. The surroundings were familiar and Chris stepped out of the car to take everything in. The tree was still there. He parked his car under the tree in the exact same spot as that faithful night in year 11. The big park on the east side of the car park, the gas station towards the south. Everything was till there. Adam's car pulled in slowly and drove up next to Chris., his window was down.

"Quick. Hop back in your car. Follow me." Adam said out of the window.

Chris did as he was told and started the car. The two men drove out of the car park.

Adam was driving pretty fast and Chris was having a hard time keeping up. He was weaving around traffic like a madman. It appeared as though Adam was driving around in circles. Adam finally peeled off a row of cars at a traffic light and burned it down the main street. Chris followed suit. Jericho then saw Adam's car pull into a parking lot outside a restaurant. Chris parked a couple lots away from him. No point in drawing attention. Edge made his way into the restaurant and Chris followed close behind. After being showed to a small corner booth, the two men sat down facing each other.

"Hey, glad you understood my message. Was afraid you wouldn't know where to go." Adam finally said.

"Man, how could I forget? The first time tree. Jenkins' old man chasing us out with a shot gun. Those were good times man." Chris reminisced with a smile.

"Yeah…good times."

"Hey, so what was all that about. The driving in circles business."

"Oh that was to make sure no one followed us here. Can never be too careful." Adam explained.

"Yeah, good looking out. So what did you want to tell me anyway? You go first cause I got something important to tell you as well." Chris said.

"Ok, well I called you here to tell you that I'm in. John has set up a big deal. Going to go down tomorrow night, at the docks in Stanton Island. Big armaments shipment coming in. Bunch of crazy Russians hauling em in illegally. We gonna highjack em."

Chris wore a concerned expression on his face. "That's some serious shit."

"Damn right. This isn't little leagues no more. We are in the big time." Adam said.

"Look. What I gotta tell you, is serious. I got a call from Michaels couple days ago. Son ova bitch found us out."

"WHAT!" Adam exclaimed, lowering his voice towards the end. He looked around to see if anyone noticed, but they were too engrossed with their meals. "What are we going to do?"

"Look, he hasn't told John yet. Said he ain't going to, so we can get you out now."

"Woah woah woah. If he said he's not going to, then what's the problem?" Adam asked.

"C'mon. You can't seriously believe a word he says. He's a conniving son ova bitch. He'll turn you in sooner or later. When it suits him best, he'll do it." Chris argued as softly as he could.

"Now you look, this is a damn big deal to me, as it should be to you. This is John Cena we are talking about. The guy who killed your bro…Now it seems to me that you don't want to avenge that." Adam shot back, immediately regretting it when he saw the hurt in Chris' eyes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. I didn't mean it Chris."

"It's alright." Chris said, leaning back in his chair, and crossing his arms.

"Look Chris. I help John pull this deal off, and we'll be rich. Don't worry about me ok? I can take care of myself."

Chris nodded his head reluctantly. "Alright then. But the minute Michaels lets it slip, you bail."

"Sure thing buddy." Adam said as he rose from his seat. "Hey by the way, be ready for John. He's damn near ready to tear your head off in the final."

"Don't worry. So am I… So am I.

* * *

(A/N) Argh… that chapter didn't feel right to me. School has been getting me down lately. But what can you do. Btw, to Velvet Rhesus… don't worry, the John – Torrie business is far from over. Expect more of that in the near future. Till then, peace. 


	27. The secret revealed

(A/N) Well it's that time of year again for me… EXAMS! Argh… I'm going to be bogged down for the next week or two with work and study. So please bear with me, I will finish this story. P.S. One of the many secrets in the story will be put out in the open and there will be severe reprocussions. Won't give anymore clues, you are going to have to read on to find out. Let's get down to it.

* * *

It was finally going to happen. The biggest fight of the year. It had been built up over the weeks and it was finally going to happen, tonight. Hundreds of people packed into Hunter's club to watch two men with a bitter history, tear each other apart. It was the second best thing Hunter could hope for. The leaders of his two rival gangs were going to go at each other like never before, and with some luck, they would take each other out. Hunter sat in his office thinking about this propect and he smiled to himself.

"This competition has been a success. We have made thousands of dollars, our club has become the hottest spot in the city, and Chris and John are going to kick the shit out of each other. It's all fallen into place perfectly." Hunter said to his crew.

"As it always does boss." Randy called out.

"True. And you know why? Because we are Evolution, and Evolution are winners. Anyone who isn't in Evolution… is a loser." Hunter said as he looked at Batista.

Dave returned the icy cold stare. A soft tapping on the door broke the tension in the air.

"Come in." Hunter called out.

The door opened and Torrie walked into the room.

"Hey honey, watsup?" Hunter enquired.

She stood in the doorway, as she switched her gaze between the four men in the room. "I need to talk to you Hunter."

"Sure, come in." He motioned for her to enter the office. "Alright boys. Go out and get everything ready. Randy, go and work the crowd. I want them screaming for blood."

The three men left the room as Torrie came in and sat in the chair previously occupied by Dave, and turned to face Hunter.

"So, watsup? What did you want to talk to me about?" Hunter asked.

"It's about John."

* * *

Chris was in the toilets in Club Evolution, washing his face. Boy was he nervous. His hands were shaking, his legs were trembling, and he felt as if he was going to throw up. Chris looked at himself in the mirror. His long blond hair had grown all wild and shaggy. Such a contrast to Rick's short, neatly cropped hair. His face was also a lot different from Rick's. Chris had his mother's pretty face, while Rick was more ruggedly good looking, more like their father. Visions flowed back to Chris, of his childhood days. Him and his brother would go to the park everyday to play football with Adam and Jay. When they got home, their mom would have her apron on, with lunch already on the table. After lunch, they would have some of her freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. Those were the good days. The days before Rick started to get involved with drugs and booze in high school. The days before Rick got involved in his gang. The days before his mom got sick and weathered. The days before the two of them were torn cruely from his life. Tears began to fall from Chris' eyes. He stood in the bathroom for a while, sobbing. Chris wiped his eyes and looked at himself in the mirror one more time. He was determined to put an end to the demons that had been haunting his dreams for the past seven months. Chris was going to start by putting an end to the demon that was John Cena tonight.

* * *

"What about John?" Hunter queried.

"Well, I've been meaning to tell you this for quite a while, but I never found the right time. You see…" Torrie hesitated for a while. A knock on the door interrupted her before she could continue.

"Come in." Hunter called out.

Dave stepped into the room, Christy behind him. "Everything is set boss."

"Good, good. Come in Dave, I need to talk to you." Hunter ordered. "We'll continue this conversation after ok honey? I promise." Hunter told Torrie. She wore a sort of frustrated, yet at the same time relieved expression on her face as she left the room. Dave filed in and Christy followed.

"Um… I sort of need to see you in private." Hunter said, motioning to Christy.

"Wait outside for me okay?" Dave said to Christy. She too, left the room reluctantly and shut the door behind her.

Hunter leaned forward in his chair to get closer to Dave. "Alright. Now look, after tonight, there will be a winner, and that winner will leave my club with the 250 grand cash prize. Your job is to make sure the winner doesn't get to his house with that money. I want you to beat him down into the ground. Pummel him off the face of the earth, and take back the money."

The two men stared into each others eyes, both consciously aware of the hatred for each other.

"No way. That is lower than even you Hunter." Dave refused firmly.

"I don't think you are in a position to choose Dave." Hunter said menacingly.

"SCREW YOU HUNTER!" Dave was now on his feet.

"SIT YOUR ASS DOWN!" Hunter was now also on his feet.

"Make me you lousy son ova bitch." Dave spat out as he turned his back on his boss and prepared to leave the office.

"I would seriously think about what you are doing Dave. For Christy's sake."

Dave stopped dead in his tracks.

"That's right. If not for your own sake, for Christy's sake." Hunter repeated.

Dave turned around with a beaten expression on his face.

"When is this going to end Hunter? When are you going to stop doing this to me and Christy?" Dave asked, expression totally void from his voice.

"It ends when you want it to end Dave. When you stop disobeying my orders. Now… you know what you have to do. Go and do it." Hunter ordered as Dave reluctantly left the room.

Christy, who had her ear pressed to the door, heard everything. She quickly stood up straight and waited for Dave to come out of the room.

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen! Tonight, someone will go home as champ, and someone will go home as chump. Someone will go home a quarter of a million dollars richer, and someone will go home with nothing more then a few broken bones. Two men, who have beatenthe toughest competiton New Yorkhas to offer, will put an end to the bitter history between them. There can only be one winner. The question is, who is it going to be? Well we are about to find out right now! So without further a due, introducing first, the doctor of Thuganomics, JOHN CENA!" Randy's voice blared out into the club.

The crowd was on their feet. Everyone was screaming and shouting and there was an air of excitement in the club.

"And challenging him tonight, in the final of all finals, the battle royal, the super bowl of street fighting… CHRIS JERICHO!" Again, the crowd went nuts. The crowd was split directly in half for the two men who stood in the ring facing each other.

Chris and John approached the centre of the ring, eyes locked, teeth clenched, fists at the ready.

"Now boys, I want a good clean fight. Give the crowd what it wants, but do it fairly." The ref stated. Chris looked deep into John's eyes. His vision was blurred by cold fury. Chris began to turn away, but turned back and spat right in John's face. Cena didn't flinch, but casually wiped the saliva off his face. The ref was saying something to Chris, but neither of the two men heard a word he said. Eventually the match started, and straight away, they went at it.

Chris charged straight at John, not really thinking it through first. John was ready for it, and was determined to get Chris back for the show of disrespect before the match started. He ducked his shoulder and brought Chris down to the mat. John began swinging at Chris' face and got a few clean hits in before Chris heaved him off. Chris was on his feet, and so was John. Jericho swung at his opponents face but John scouted the move and ducked just in time. However, he couldn't scout the next move as Chris connected hard with a uppercut. John stumbled back, a little dazed form the previous shot. Chris went straight at John, showing no signs of slowing down. The crowd was going crazy over the fast pace at which the match started. Chris was a man possessed, his swings coming in from all directions. A couple knees here and there made it hard for John to block the shots. John eventually managed to get himself out of the corner. He paced around the ring, trying to catch his breath. Chris didn't let up though, he went straight back on the attack. Punches and kicks were finding their targets as the match swung Chris' way. John managed to grab one of Chris' wrists. He held on tight but Chris came in with the other fist, again and again. John ducked under one swing and it was then he found his first opportunity to mount a solidattack. While still holding onto Chris' right wrist with his right hand, he drove his shoulder up into Chris' abdomen. Chris stumbled back a little, but continued to pound away at John's back. John drove his shoulder in again and Chris doubled over. John took over the fight from there.

Chris was feeling winded. Those blows to the stomach had saw the momentum shift to John's favor. Now John was having his way with him. Chris desperately tried to get the momentum back, but he was exhausted from the earlier assault. He didn't feel John's blows on him anymore and realized that the ref was counting him out. Chris quickly scrambled to his feet to break the count but felt himself get lifted and dropped back down again. His body rattled with pain. He knew that he couldn't lose focus. He had to concentrate, and strike when he got the chance. That was the only way he was going to get out of this. Once again, John had let up to let the ref count him out. Chris stayed down, biding his time. He used the time to regain his composure and refill the tank. He used all the time he could squeeze out of the count and got up just in time. John strode towards him, confident that Chris' was still hurt. When he was in range, Chris exploded out of the blocks with a huge fist straight to the jaw which knocked John off his feet. The ref began his count. John barely climbed to his feet when the ref got to nine. Sheer determination to not get knocked off this early was the only thing powering John's wrecked body. The punch had really shook John up and he could barely stand on his own two feet. Chris helped him back down onto the mat with a shoulder charge. He stood over his fallen enemy, just as John probably did when his brother was killed. The rage rose and rose as Chris just stood over John. Chris looked up and the rage boiled over. He saw Shawn, cheering up the back with Adam. Shawn Michaels, the man that pulled the trigger was standing no more than a few meters from him. His thoughts wandered to Adam. Maybe Shawn was here to tell John about the plan. Adam would be dead if that happened. He thought about going over there right now to shut Shawn up permanently, but the roar of the crowd and the refs voice brought him back to reality. The ref was up to seven and John showed no signs of movement. But now it wasn't about winning or losing to Chris. It was about sending a message. Getting revenge. Chris picked John up off the mat,to the surprise of the crowd and of the ref. Chris probably had the match won, but Chris stopped the count on purpose to inflict more pain. He locked eyes with Shawn as he mercilessly beat John down. Shawn gave Chris a little wave. Chris mouthed some sort of foul word in Shawn's direction and continued to pound on his opponent.

* * *

"So, what about John was it that you wanted to discuss with me? Has he been harassing you again? Cause if he has, I'll go out there right now and beat him to a pulp with my bare ha…"

"No Hunter. It's not that." Torrie interrupted. "No he hasn't been bugging me. Look, if I am to tell you, you have to promise me that you won't get mad and do something stupid." Torrie said with a pleading look in her eyes.

Hunter, who now sensed that it was something serious, leaned forward in his chair. "What is it Torrie?"

"Promise me Hunter." She asked again.

"Yeah, ok, whatever. Just tell me." He hastily replied, not really thinking about what he said.

Torrie was now very hesitant. She couldn't hold it in any longer. She couldn't bare to see John get hurt time and time again because of her. She was hoping that maybe, if she told Hunter the truth, he would sort things out and John would leave them alone. But somewhere, deep in the back of her mind, she knew that would never happen. She could hope though. "Well… believe me when I say I tried to tell you earlier… You see, me and John went out a long time ago."

"What?" Hunter said, a little shell shocked.

"It's ancient history though. Please believe me." Torrie begged. Now getting desperate.

"What do you mean 'went out'? You mean you use to sleep with that slime bag?"

"Hunter, please…I'm sorry."

Hunter sat in his chair for a while. Torrie was sobbing quietly, afraid of what she had done. Hunter's eyes carried no expression. They were like ice.

"That lousy mother fucker isn't walking out of my club alive." Hunter said as he stood up and made his way out of the office.

Torrie stood up and tried to stop him. "NO! PLEASE!" She wailed but to no avail. Hunter pushed her away and exited the office.

* * *

John was slowly getting his life beaten out of him. Chris was absolutely relentless. Not one second passed without John getting a knee or a fist pounded into his face or body. John started to cough up blood, but even that didn't stop Chris' assault. John was now in a headlock and the oxygen was cutoff from his body. Blood trickled from his mouth and John's vision began to go all blurry. He was slipping into unconsciousness.

* * *

Chris had his arm locked tightly around John's neck. John's limp thrashes were starting to stop and Chris felt that John was slowly but surely being drawn into unconsciousness. Chris looked up and had the shock of his life. Shawn was standing about a meter away from him. Somehow, Shawn had managed to shove his way to ringside and was now taunting Chris. The rage began to build again as his whole body trembled. However, he was unaware that he had subconsciously loosened his headlock.

* * *

Shawn was smiling at Chris. He made hand gestures of a talking mouth and he was signaling to Chris that he was going to tell John about his and Adam's little scheme. With any luck, Chris would take care of John for him. With John out of the way, Shawn would take over the gang, he would get rid of Adam, and slowly but surely wipe Chris off the face of the earth as well. Everything was working out for Shawn Michaels.

* * *

John felt Chris' arm loosen around his neck. He wasn't sure why this was, but frankly he didn't care. He was grateful for the air which was allowed back into his lungs as he gulped it in. His vision was becoming relatively sharp again and his body didn't ache as much as before. His head was still spinning but it wasn't anything John hadn't over come before. John used both hands to grab onto Chris' arm which was around his neck. With a sharp and forceful tug, his head came free. John scrambled to his feet, and was up before Chris was. He sent his knee flying in and it connected with Chris' face. John moved forward as Chris slowly climbed to his feet. John came in with a fist, and then another, and another. Chris was on his knees now, blood pouring from his nose and his cheek. In fact, the mat was covered in red splotches. A mixture of both his and Chris' blood. John waited for Chris to get up on his feet. He backed away and charged at him full speed. The impact shook John, but Chris came off the worse of the two. He was sprawled out limply on the mat. John grabbed the rope to steady himself. The ref was up to five but Chris was showing signs of movement. John was about to go back on the attack, when he heard a single voice ring in his ears amongtsthe roar of the crowd. A voice that would never ever slip his mind.

"NO! HUNTER DON'T!" Torrie's voice rang out.

John spun around to the source of the voice but a blow full of power and animosity struck him in the face and knocked him off his feet. He felt his body get lifted off the mat as Hunter struck him again and again. The ref rang the bell and the match was called off.

* * *

Out of the corner of his mind, Chris heard the bell sound. He was devastated when he heard it as he thought he had lost the match. When he looked up, he saw that it was indeed a different story. He saw the ref try to pull an enraged Hunter off John's limp body. Chris cursed to himself. This wasn't the way he wanted it to end.

"John probably deserves what he is getting." Chris thought to himself as he got to his feet.

He turned his back on the beating and began to walk out of the ring. But somewhere inside of him he knew it was wrong. You never beat a man when he is down. Even if he did have a hand in your brother's death. Besides, Chris' was going to be the one to kill John, not Hunter. And at the rate Hunter was going, he was dead set on doing just that. Chris spun around and jumped on Hunter's back. He wrapped his arm around his neck and Hunter dropped John. Hunter reached over and grabbed Chris by the hair. He heaved him over his shoulder and Chris went crashing onto the mat. A much fresher Hunter made easy pickings of Chris as he began to beat down on him. Soon the whole of Evolution and even some of the spectators were in on the action. All trying to pull Hunter off. Eventually the enraged leader of Evolution was subdued, and John and Chris were taken out of the ring to get treatment. The crowd slowly cleared out of the club, all of them disappointed with the outcome.

* * *

(A/N) OH MY GOD! I am soooo sorry everyone. I know you will all hate me for this. It may well be one of the biggest anticlimaxes in the history of the universe. But I needed for this to happen to make the end part of my story work. Please please please please please forgive me! 


	28. Alone

(A/N) WOW! Has it been a long frieken time or wat! Well I'm back with three whole chapters! Three chapters in three months…hehehe. Well I had a amazing time on holiday. For those of you in the southern hemisphere, I hope u had a good summer holidays as well. For the rest of you… well… I hope ur surviving in school or whatever you do. Anyway I won't ramble on much longer. You must be itching to get back into the story so I'll just recap what happened and let you get into it.

Basically Chris and John were fighting in the finals of Hunter's underground fighting tournament. Hunter found out that John used to be with Torrie and realized why John had been trying to get at Torrie… so naturally he flipped. Interrupted the match in the biggest anticlimatical fashion ever and beat the crap out of John. Chris tried to save John so he got the crap kicked out of him as well. Now they are both in hospital…

Enjoy the triple update.

* * *

"YOU SHOULD HAVE LET ME TEAR THAT MOTHER FUCKER APART!" Hunter roared. His three right hand men stood quite a distance back from their enraged boss. Hunter continued to pace around in his office. The crowd had died out in the club and workers were cleaning up outside.

"The next time John comes within 100 meters of Torrie, you call me. You got it?" Hunter said.

"Yes boss." The three men replied in unison. Hunter stopped at his desk to slam his fist down. He damn near made a hole in his desk as well.

"And that son of a bitch Chris needs to pay as well. He is just as guilty as John for sticking his nose where it doesn't belong. I'm sick and tired of waiting. I want to attack and attack now. We are going to go head on at both of them." Hunter said.

"Um… boss. I don't think that is a solid idea. If we go at both of them at the same time, they could overwhelm us." Ric said extremely cautiously.

"They could overwhelm us…" Hunter repeated in a mocking tone. "Look, don't give me that bullshit now Ric. I'm the boss. I make the calls. You just follow orders. Got it?" Hunter growled, staring menacingly into Ric's eyes. Ric bowed his head, unable to hold Hunter's glare for very long.

"Yes sir" Ric replied in a barely audible voice.

"Good. Now I don't want to see the incompetence shown by you and you and you ever again. Understood?" Hunter said, addressing each of them separately. However, he was looking more at Dave when he said it.

"Yes sir." The three of them said in unison.

* * *

John woke drearily, his eyes opening slowly but surely. It was an effort just to lift his eyelids. He scanned his surroundings. He was lying in a hospital room, a place he had gotten used to waking up in during the past few months. Adam got up from the sofa on his right and went up close to the bed. On John's left, already standing was Eddie and Rey. And at the back of the room, next to the door, Shawn was leaning against the wall, a peculiar smirk on his face.

Adam was the first to speak. "How are you?"

"Not too bad." John said with a grimace on his face.

"Man… Hunter really lost it…" Rey started, but was cut short by Eddie who elbowed him in the ribs.

"Hunter…" John muttered to himself. He was starting to re gather his memory, starting to recollect the previous night's events.

"Was it a no contest?"

"Yup." Eddie said.

"Damn it!" John exclaimed. "What about Chris? What happened to him?" John asked.

"Don't know. The paramedics on sight took him away after the match. Probably somewhere in this hospital right now." Edge replied.

"Why the hell did he go after Hunter?" John contemplated, utterly confused by Chris' actions last night.

The room was silent for a while. No one knew the answer to that question. Not even Adam. Then, Shawn spoke for the first time.

"He's a weird one…Chris is. Maybe he's planning something. Maybe he's trying to soften you up, before he delivers the killer blow." Shawn suggested. As he said this, Shawn and Adam locked eyes, both men realizing at that moment, the situation at hand. Adam was at the mercy of Shawn Michaels. The room went silent again, all of them thinking about what Shawn had just said. With the wry smile still on his face, Shawn stood up straight. "Well, I better head of to the club. Somebody has got to look after the business while you recover huh? It's a 24 hour a day job."

John nodded in agreement, as Shawn left the room. The other three men decided to stay talk out the rest of the night.

* * *

At the other end of the hall, Chris woke up all alone in his room. His whole body reverberated pain.

"JESUES CHRIST!" He screamed as he tried to sit up, but a searing pain shot through his abdomen.

A couple seconds later, a nurse bustled into the room.

"Don't try and move. You have got two broken ribs and a few torn muscles. You really did a job on yourself." The nurse said as she helped him into an upright position.

She then proceeded to refilling the liquid painkiller which dripped from an IFV into his hand.

"So what did you do to yourself?" The nurse asked, with a pleasant smile on her face. "Get into a fight or something?"

"Chris tried to think of an appropriate answer, but all he could come up with was, "Um… I fell off my bike."

"Must have been one hell of a crash."

"Yeah. I was going pretty fast."

"Well, no more daredevil stunts for you for a while. At least 6 months. A 8 to be on the safe side, but somehow, I doubt you are a person who likes to live on the safe side."

The nurse gave him another smile and turned to leave the room.

"Wait, don't go. Stay for a while will ya? I could use some company." Chris said. He was really feeling quite alone during the past few weeks. With Benoit recovering at home and Adam with his covert operation, it was times like these that Chris missed his mother and brother the most.

"If I didn't know any better mr…" The nurse checked her clipboard to learn the name of her patient. "Mr. Jericho, I'd say you are flirting with me." The nurse said with a slight grin on her face. "At least this guy was good looking." She thought to herself. A lot better than some of the patients who tried to flirt with her in the past.

"No no. No flirting. Just talking." Chris said.

"Alright. But only for a while, I have to do rounds in a half hour." The nurse said as she took a seat on the sofa at the side of the bed.

"So what's your name?"


	29. A narrow escape

(A/N) Only a few more chapters left. The story is slowly winding up!

* * *

Only a few days later, despite the protests of his doctor, Chris checked out of the hospital. His doctor gave him some painkillers and strict instructions to get some rest. Chris was filling out some paper work, while scanning the lobby area for the nurse he was talking to the night before. He wanted to say goodbye, and give her some flowers he took from the vase in his room. She had been very good company and he wanted to thank her. He signed all the necessary documents and handed them to the receptionist. He took one last futile glance around the room, but she was no where to be seen. He turned towards the main entrance but spun around quickly when he saw who just entered the hospital. Ric Flair and three other mean looking guys walked in through the main entrance and began to advance toward the reception desk. Chris hurried away from Ric and the other three goons, who were built like football players. He parked himself in a chair in the waiting area and grabbed a magazine to conceal his face. He wanted to hear what Ric was doing at the hospital bringing along the kind of company you wouldn't usually bring to visit a dying mother.

"Hi. We are here to see John Cena. I believe he checked in about a week ago." Chris heard Ric tell the receptionist.

He heard the receptionist typing rapidly on the computer, and then deliver the bad news to Ric and company.

"I'm sorry sir, but Mr. Cena checked out a few days ago."

"Oh well. How about Chris Jericho? Is he still here?" Ric asked.

Chris flinched at the mention of his name. He heard the receptionist typing again.

"Ummmmm… Nope. I'm afraid you just missed him." The receptionist stated.

"Damn!" Ric blurted, slamming his fist on the receptionist's desk.

"I believe he just checked out a few minutes ago. I recall a blonde haired man filling out some paper work at my desk a few minutes ago. Does that fit the description of your… uh… friend?"

"Yes. Thank you very much." Ric said.

A few seconds elapsed before Chris dared to lower the magazine and peer over the top. He glimpsed the backs of Ric and company, standing outside the hospital, searching the streets for him. The automatic doors shut behind them and Chris got to his feet. He grabbed his belongings and started walking the opposite direction. He stopped a nurse to ask her if there was a back door that he could use to exit the hospital. The reason he gave her, to warrant the use of a back door was he was visiting a lover and his wife was looking for him in the lobby. It was the best he could think of in the spur of the moment. The blonde nurse bought his story and with a mischievous smile on her face, showed him the exit from which the ambulances unload patients in need of emergency treatment.

* * *

As Chris was riding in a taxi, back to his house, he went through the reasons that Ric would want to see him in the hospital. The only realistic one he could think of was he wanted to hurt him. But would they sink that low? To kick a man when he was down. He then remembered who he was dealing with. Hunter was capable of anything. He was going to have to be a lot more careful from now on.

* * *

A loud noise woke John with a start. He rubbed his eyes vigorously and scanned his surroundings. He realized it was the television and fumbled around for the remote to switch it off. The alcohol and the painkillers he had been popping had landed him in low point in his life. John had recently been discharged from the hospital, and now spent his days getting drunk by noon and lazing on the sofa, watching sitcoms and B grade horror movies. John struggled to his feet and slouched over to the window. He pulled the blinds apart and sunlight flooded into the room, nearly blinding him. He stumbled back and covered his face with his hands. Since he kept the blinds shut in his house, he had totally lost track of time. He stumbled back into the living room to look at the clock. 4:00pm. John flopped back into his sofa and buried his head in his hands. Even though he told all his friends otherwise, he still hadn't gotten over Hunter and the underground fighting finals. He had Chris beat. The money and the title were within reach until Hunter cruelly tore it away from him, along with giving him one of the most severe beatings he had ever received. He knew Hunter would kill him before he let Torrie run away with him. And John also knew that he would gladly give his life to get her back. 


	30. The truth

(A/N) I don't know Christy's real age so I took a wild guess in that area.

* * *

Almost a month had gone by since the underground fighting finals incident, and John was still as miserable as ever. The only two places John was at these days was at home and at the club. Currently, it was 12 midnight, and John was putting away shot after shot of hard alcohol at home. He was settling his nerves for what he was about to do. His heart couldn't take it anymore. It hurt so badly, it threatened to just explode in his chest. He couldn't bear to live without her anymore. He couldn't let her live the rest of her life, thinking that he was a murderer. Because he wasn't. he had to tell her the truth. He had to tell her everything. John poured himself one last stiff shot and downed it. He steadied himself onto his feet and walked over to where the telephone lay on the receiver. He picked it up and dialed Torrie's hand phone number of by heart.

It was ringing. He tried to breath steadily, but it came in tense, erratic spurts. His heart was pounding in his chest.

5 rings and she still didn't pick up.

12 rings. His heart sank deeper into his stomach, still beating at 150 beats per minute.

"Look John, I don't want to talk to you. Please just leave me alone." Torrie's voice came on the line, a little irritated.

How the hell did she know it was him? Caller ID. Of course. But that must mean that she still had his number on her phone. She still hadn't let go.

"Torrie, please. You don't have to talk. Just listen. I want to tell you the truth."

"The truth John? I think it's a little too late for the truth. The truth would have been good about 8 months ago."

"NO Torrie! Don't hang up. Please. Better now than never right? You need to know."

A pause on the line.

"Torrie?"

"Ten minutes John. I'll give you ten minutes. I'm in a hurry."

John used every second of the given ten minutes to recount the events of that night, which happened so long ago, yet was still so vividly imprinted into his memory.

* * *

John had finished telling Torrie everything of what happened with Shawn, Rick and himself that night and silence had descended upon the telephone line. Torrie was trying to decipher everything John had told her, and trying to work out for her self, what was true and what wasn't. She concluded that everything must be true. John had no reason to lie to her any further. He had no reason to mislead anymore. She finally broke the deafening silence.

"This still doesn't change anything."

"I know." John said solemnly.

"Why bother? Why now?" She asked.

"Because, I couldn't bear living out the rest of my days, letting you think I was a murderer."

"You still are! Don't you get it? You left him there to die. You didn't do a damn thing to help him. You could have placed an anonymous phone call to the cops. Anything! But you didn't. You are just as guilty as Shawn is."

"Just answer me one question Torrie. Are you happy?"

"What?"

"Are you happy? With Hunter?"

"John… I have to go."

"Don't avoid the question Torrie. Answer it truthfully, and I'll leave you alone forever. I promise. Are you happy?"

Silence.

"I have to go." Torrie repeated and disconnected the line. But in actual fact, she didn't have to go anywhere. She hung up the phone, put her head in her hands, and cried.

John listened to the monotonous beep which signaled the end of the phone call. He hung up the phone dejectedly. The fact that Torrie didn't answer his question was all he needed to know. He made his way back to the living room. He was just about to park himself in his sofa when the phone rang. Frustrated, he stalked back over to the telephone.

"Hello?" He answered in a little more than hostile tone.

"Hey, Cena. Amigo. It's me. Rey Rey."

"Oh. Hey Rey. Watsup." Cena asked.

"We got a problem. I'm at St. Vincents emergency." Rey said. His voice was strained and erratic.

"St. Vincents? What the hell is going on? Are you all right?" John asked worryingly.

"Yeah. I'm alright. But Eddie isn't. He was stabbed. He's in critical condition."

"Wha…I'm on my way."

* * *

A loud knock on the door interrupted Hunter's brooding.

"Who is it?" He called out rather brashly.

"It's me boss." Randy called out.

"Well, come in then." Hunter replied, sitting up straight in his chair.

Randy entered the office and closed the door behind him. He stood there, looking absent mindedly at his boss, not sure what to do next.

"Well? Did you do it?" Hunter enquired eagerly.

"Yeah. Eddie Guerrero is officially out." Randy brought his hand across his neck in an obscene motion signaling he had completed the task.

"Good. Did you plant the evidence?"

"Yup. Chris Jericho should be getting a visit from the cops sometime in the near future."

"Good, good. With some luck, we might be able to kill off two birds with one stone." Hunter said more to himself than to Randy. "Ok. You did good. Go home."

Randy smirked, overflowing with pride, left the office.

* * *

"Hehehehe. Oh you are soooooo naughty." Christy giggled. She cuddled up snuggly in Dave's arms. The two lay naked and sweaty in bed. Dave lay on his back, staring blankly at the ceiling. Christy, noticing that Dave's mind was elsewhere, shifted her position so that she could get a good look at his face.

"What's the matter? Wasn't that good for you?" She asked.

"Wha…uh…yes… I mean no. No, it was good. It was great." Dave said, snapping out of his day dream.

"Dave, what's wrong." Christy asked, placing a hand on his chest. "You can tell me anything. You know that right?"

"Yes. Of course I know that."

The two of them lay there in an awkward silence for a few minutes. Finally, Christy cut the silence in half with a knife.

"I know about you and Hunter."

Dave showed no signs of hearing what she just said. He remained quiet and still.

"I know he's using me to control you. I know everything Dave. I just didn't say anything because I wanted you to tell me yourself. Obviously you don't trust me enough." She said. Christy unwrapped herself from his arms and sat on the edge of the bed. Dave sat up and moved over next to her.

"I do trust you Christy. I trust you with my life. I just don't want you to get hurt."

"Dave. I'm 29 years old. I can take care of myself. I don't need you looking after me all the time. I need you to look after us."

They both sat in silence. The silence said more than any words could at that current moment. If one thing was for certain about their future, it was that nothing was for certain.

* * *

"Dave?" Christy whispered softly. "Dave?" After ensuring that Dave was fast asleep, she crept out of bed. She slipped on her cotton slippers and silently crept into the living room, picking up the cordless telephone on the way to the couch. She had contemplated this move since they had that talk earlier that night. She decided that if Dave couldn't look after them, then she would. What made her decided to turn to the man she was about to call, she was unsure. It was partly due to the fact that she saw this man fight Dave with such ferocity, and such integrity, that made him a wise choice. Looking up his name in the yellow pages which lay conveniently on the coffee table, she dialed the number.

"Yes." Said a man hastily.

"Hello? Is this John Cena?"

"It is. Who wants to know?"

"Christy Hemme. I'm…"

"I know who you are. What the hell do you want? Make it quick, I'm in a hurry."

"I'm sorry if I caught you at a bad time, but…" Again she was interrupted.

"Look. I can't talk right now. I need to go to the hosp…" This time it was John who was interrupted.

"Please. Just give me one minute."

"Okay. Fine. Hurry!"

"Dave wants to join your gang." She blurted out.

"Well then he should talk to me personally. Not through his secretary." John replied rudely.

Christy was a little frustrated by John's constant interruptions and aggressive tone, but she put up with it, seeing that she was seeking a big favor from him.

"Look just let me explain…" And with that, Christy informed John of their current situation.

* * *

(A/N) Wow… a lot has happened in those three chapters. Review them and tell me what you think. Anything you wanna say, just say it. With the new reply thing, I can answer any questions you have. I've got the next chapter almost done. Should be up this weekend so look out for it then. 


	31. Breaking even

(A/N) Hey everybody. Great to hear back from all of you so quickly. Didn't expect to get many reviews after such a long off period but thanks for all the support and feedback and I'm glad you guys stuck with me. Anyway, here is my side of the bargain. Finished the chapter by the weekend… like I said, so I hope you guys enjoy!

* * *

"Should I? No. No way. He's my enemy. He's a caniving bastard. But it's the only way. No it's not. You just got to think. THINK DAMMIT!" Chris had been toying with the notion of possibly joining forces with Cena to take down Hunter. There was no doubt, that at this point in time, Hunter was the strongest of the three. Chris was too busy wrapped up in his own master plan of trying to get at Shawn and take out Hunter at the same time, while also worrying about Adam. And John… who knows why John was so disorganized now a days. The only thing Chris knew for certain was that if he didn't get his shit together, Hunter would take him out.

"Ah fuck it." Chris said to himself. He picked up the phone.

* * *

John thought long and hard about what Christy said on the way to visit Eddie in emergency. Could it be possible that she was playing him like a flute? On the other hand, if he could get Dave on his side, he would have a major advantage over Chris and Hunter. He pulled into the parking lot at St. Vincents and got out into chilly night air. He pulled the hood of his sweater up, over his head and walked briskly into the hospital. He walked up to a rather severe looking receptionist and asked for the room number in which Eddie was in. She informed him in a harsh tone that he was still in the emergency operating room and that he would have to wait until he got out. John thanked her and turned around to have a seat in the waiting area. He spotted Rey, sitting with his head in his hands.

"Hey Rey." John said solemnly.

"Hey John. Thanks for coming." Ray said excitedly, jumping out of his seat when he heard John's voice.

"How's Eddie?" John asked, easing Rey back into the seat and taking a seat himself.

"Shit is fucked man. I haven't seen him yet. Doctors won't let me in to see him. Won't tell me shit either. He's been in there for almost an hour. I don't know what's going man. Everything is fucked up. I mean…"

John interrupted Rey before he could ramble on anymore.

"Woah, slow down. Take a deep breath." John tried to calm Rey down. After Rey's breathing rate stabilized, John asked his questions. "Now tell me, did you see what went down?"

"No. I wasn't there. Vicki called me. I came right away." Rey informed him.

"Eddie's wife is here?"

"Yeah. She's waiting outside emergency."

"Let's go see how she's holding up. Shall we?" John suggested. He got up and Rey followed suit. They walked over to the emergency ward where Vicki and her three daughters were waiting outside. Vicki had a relieved look on her face.

"Hey Vicki." John called out.

"Oh hey John. Thank god you're here. The doctor just gave me the good news. Eddie is going to be okay." She said.

"That's great! That's awesome." He replied. John knew that Vicki disapproved of Eddie being involved with John and his profession but Eddie was as stubborn as a bull. So she had to trust John to take care of him, which John had promised to do countless times. This was the first time, John failed to keep his promise.

"So can we go and see him?" Rey asked. He was carrying the youngest of the three girls in his arms.

"The doctor said that we can when he comes out of the anesthetic. Should be half an hour he said." Vicki replied.

"Excuse me." John piped in as he felt his mobile phone vibrate. He walked out into the living room to take the call.

"Hello?"

* * *

John was riding in the back of a taxi, thinking about the phone call he just received from Chris. It seemed that everyone wanted to join him now. He wondered where all these people were when he really needed their help. Back when he was short of numbers. But now that he had built himself an empire, everyone wants a piece. He recalled back in the hospital, just as he was leaving, after he told Rey and Vicki that he had personal business to attend to, he recalled seeing the detective that harassed him when he was suspected of Rick Jericho's murder. The detective was getting out of his car and going into the hospital. Detective Marcy was his name. Coincidence? He had no time to ponder it because the cab driver was asking for his fare. John paid the man and got out.

He walked down the street a few blocks and waited at the agreed meeting point. John had wondered if maybe this was a setup, but decided to give Chris the benefit of the doubt. John didn't make Chris out to be the type of character to employ dirty tactics just to win. He did in fact, save him when Hunter was beating the holy hell out of him so John had felt an obligation to pay him back. Eddie never missed a chance to tell John that he was too trusting, and that would be his downfall. Maybe he was. He was interrupted mid thought though as a black car pulled up on the opposite side of the street. A male of average height stepped out of the car who John later made out to be Chris. The blonde looked both ways before crossing the street. Something about his demeanor made John feel as though Chris was the uncomfortable one, even though he was pulling all the strings at this meeting.

"Hey…" John said amicably but he got no reply. Instead, Chris grabbed his arm and pulled him along the side walk.

"Walk." Chris hissed.

"You expecting company?" John asked suspiciously.

"Better to be safe than to be sorry." Chris replied as they continued their brisk walk up the dimly lit street.

"So what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" John asked.

"Look. You and I both know that Hunter has gotten too powerful." Chris said, getting straight down to the point. "He owns half the nightclubs in Manhattan and Queens. Now those are prime areas. Not to mention the various underground fight clubs in Stanton Island. If we give him more time, he could be the fucking mayor of New York."

"So what do you propose we do about this problem." John said, not realizing the extent of the damage until a minute ago. He had been too wrapped up with Torrie.

"Neither one of us will beat him alone. So I propose, for the first and only time, we team up to take him down."

John kept up with Chris' quickened pace as he pondered the offer. It was beneficial to him. He would have one rival out of the way. The two of them could split any profits they would make by taking over Hunter's nightclubs.

"How do I know that this isn't a trap?" John said.

Chris stopped abruptly.

"You wanna talk about traps? Let's talk about the time you fucked my brother over." Chris said suddenly flushed with anger, his voice rising a little. "Yeah… don't think I have forgotten about that. I know you were involved, even if you didn't pull the trigger. You lured my brother into an alley. You fucked him over, then you let Shawn pump his body full of lead." Chris blurted out, getting right into John's face.

John tried to retort but Chris cut him off. He was damn near screaming now.

" Don't bother with your fucking excuses! I don't wanna hear it! You can tell yourself whatever you want, but the blood will still be on your hands as well as Shawn's. But right now, I've been man enough to put my own personal vendetta aside to think of the greater good. How bout you?"

Out of the corner of his eye, John saw a car turn the corner down the street and race towards them. The driver side window was down and something metallic glinted against the light from one of the street lamps. John's instincts leapt into action as he pushed Chris onto the ground and dived for cover himself. A fusillade of bullets embedded themselves into the wall of a brick house, missing the two men by centimeters. John looked up to try and catch a glimpse of their attacker but couldn't quite see his face. Both of them got up shakily. Chris dusted himself off.

"Well, I guess we are even then." John said. He saw a cab turn the same corner the car which did the drive by had turned and hurried over to wave it down. He didn't want to stay out in the open for longer than need be. Before he got in, he turned around to address Chris.

"Oh and about us working togther…Yeah. Why not. It could be fun." John said jokingly as he hopped into the cab.

"Cheeky sonova bitch." Chris grinned shakily as he himself hurried over to his car.

* * *

Shawn unlatched the silencer off the barrel of the automatic hand pistol and swore under his breath.

"That was my chance to take out two fucking birds with one stone." He quickly hid the automatic and the silencer in the glove compartment.

"Next time Cena. Next time, you won't get up."

* * *

(A/N) Well, well, well. John and Chris. Btw, the referral that John made to them being even was to the time when Chris attacked Hunter while John was getting beaten up. Just incase I didn't make it clear enough in the story. But anyway, Shawn has made the first move in backstabbing John… finally. We all knew it was coming. Hehehe. Will he be successful the next time? Tell me what you think. 


	32. Wrongfully accused

(A/N) Hey everybody. Thanks again for all the lurvly reviews. To El Chacal, believe me when I say I do appreciate your suggestions and I do take them seriously, but my story is already almost finished, it would be impossible for me to introduce new characters if I was to make it a good ending. But I assure you that the Undertaker will play a part in the climax of the story. Also to TakerTakeMe, I'm glad you find the story to be realistic and not too lovey dovey. That was actually my main aim in writing this story. I wanted to make it as down to earth, brutally real as I could without making it too boring. With that said, the ending won't be all happy. There will be some devastation. Please don't get mad if it happens to your favorite character.

Anyway I better get on with it before I bore you guys to death with my "brief" authors note. (and by brief, I mean extremely long).

* * *

A few days had passed since Christy had called John, and now it was time to set the second part of her plan into motion. She still hadn't told Dave anything, but she knew she was doing it for the best. Once again, she waited until Dave was fast asleep before she crept into the living room, telephone and phone book at the ready. She picked up the phone and dialed the first number.

"Hello?" The voice at the other end answered after a few rings.

"Hi. Is this John?" Christy asked in her most cheery voice.

"It is… who wants to know?"

"Christy."

"Oh. You." John said rather unenthusiastically.

"Yeah. Me. Listen, have you thought about letting Dave join?"

"Wow. The way you say it, it's like you are doing me a favor."

"Please. We need this. Please I'm begging you." Christy rarely begged for anything. But this was one of those times when she was very desperate.

"Woah. We need it?" John repeated, questioning Christy's choice of words. "Does Dave even know about this?"

"Of course he does."

"Then why doesn't he call himself?"

"Dignity. It's a guy thing." She answered quickly.

"Well he's gonna have to get over 'the guy thing' if he wants to come work for me."

Silence on the line.

"Look. I wanna talk to him personally. Face to face. Tell him to meet me at the diner on the corner of Lexington and Grove at 11 tomorrow night. He is to come alone. That includes you too."

"But…" Christy started, but it was no use. She was in no position to make demands.

"No buts. He comes alone or not at all. 11 tomorrow. And tell him not to be late. John hung up the phone.

Christy replaced the receiver and let out a sigh. Not exactly how she wanted it to go, but she would have to be content with that. She had to continue with part two of her plan. This would require a lot more resolve. She had to take control of the conversation from the get go. She settled herself, picked up the phone and dialed the number.

"Hello." Came a tired voice on the other line.

"Hello Hunter. It's Christy Hemme." Christy said in her coldest voice.

"Christy? What the hell do you want? It's 1 in the fucken morning."

"I have some news which might interest you. Dave is leaving your fucking gang, and he isn't coming back." She said bluntly.

"What the fuck is this?" Hunter replied, wide awake now. "Some kind of fucken joke?"

"No joke. I know all about the little blackmail scheme of yours. You don't have the balls to lay your filthy hands on me."

"You don't think so? Dave certainly thinks I do. He wouldn't dare. He knows that if he ever betrayed me, both of you would be dead."

"We'll see about that. Good bye Hunter. And fuck you." She hung up the phone. She was panting now. Her whole body was shaking. She knew that Hunter would actually kill her if he had the chance. But she had to provoke him, so that Dave would have no choice but to leave and join John. She felt so manipulative, but she had no other option. Christy turned to go back to bed when she had the shock of her life. Dave stood transfixed at the doorway of the bedroom. She didn't know how much he heard, but she guessed he must have heard enough because he looked like he was in a state of shock.

"You have no idea what you have just done." Were the only words that came out of his mouth.

* * *

John had a lot of things on his mind. So much so, that for once in a long time, he wasn't thinking about Torrie. He had Chris to think about, Dave to think about, Hunter to think about, among other things. John poured himself a stiff drink. This thing with Dave was going further than he expected. He didn't really think much of it until the last phone call from Christy. A soft rap on the door broke his train of thought.

"Come in."

Rey Mysterio entered the office with a venomous look on his face.

"Hey Rey. Watsup?"

The small Mexican closed the door behind him and stormed in. "That sonova bitch Jericho did it. He stabbed Eddie man. It was him. We gotta do something about it. We gotta go out there, and we gotta kick his fucken ass. Then we gonna feed him to the dogs esse. We gotta…"

"Hey. Just chill for a second." John said. Rey took a seat and John continued. "So how are you so sure Chris did it?"

"Because esse. A detective came into the hospital. Asking about Eddie. Asked if he ever had a beef with this Jericho fucker. I told him no. Then I asked him, 'Why? You think it's Jericho?' Then he said, they found some fibres or hair or some shit which may make him a suspect. But it's gotta be him. Maybe he found out about Eddie being there when his brother got killed and thought Eddie killed him or something. All I know is we gotta take him out."

"Back up a little ok? We can't rush to conclusions here. Let's think it through."

"Jericho rushed to conclusions. What you gonna do? Just sit here and let him get a way with it?"

"No. That's not what I said. I say, we let the cops do their investigation, then they can throw him in jail." John replied.

"Man, you know New York cops all got shit for brains. They wouldn't know a murderer if it was fuckin their wife. I can't believe you man." Rey retorted angrily. He turned his back on John and was about to leave the office."

"Rey! Don't you dare leave this office. I'm not one to give orders, but right now, I am giving you a strict order, not to take business into your own hands. Give me some time, and I'll deal with Jericho, I promise." John ordered.

"Whatever."

"You got it? It's an order."

Rey left the office.

* * *

The next evening, things did not change between Dave and Christy. They still hadn't talked to each other. Christy had been out all day buying groceries and such. She was surprised that Dave didn't stop her from going, on account of Hunter being pissed off. Dave had a locksmith change their existing locks and install two new deadlocks. All the curtains were closed and Dave had a few of his old buddies from back when he was a bouncer to hang around the house. Not that they would do much good if Hunter brought the cavalry, which he probably would. He was probably rounding them up now, ready to bust through the door.

Night had descended and Dave was ready to go out.

"You are actually going alone?" Was the first thing Christy had asked him all day.

"Well yeah… wasn't that the arrangement YOU made." The two of them had a stare off, the tension mounting with every passing second. Finally Christy broke.

"Look, I'm sorry alright. I'm sorry. Are you going to stay mad at me forever?"

"Who says I'm going to stay with you forever?" Dave replied. He had his coat on, and was ready to head out. Christy looked hurt. She was on the verge of tears and Dave knew it. Yet, he showed no signs of apologizing.

"Are you being serious?" Christy asked, choking back the tears."

"Christy. You went behind my back, and you did things I purposely told you not to do. How the hell do you expect me to feel. Now I'm stuck with what you done for the rest of my very short life." Dave was almost yelling. Tears were starting to fall from Christy's eyes.

"I did what I thought wa…" Christy began but she was cut short.

"Don't give me that bullshit. I don't have time for this. I've got a meeting to go to." And with that, Dave left the house.

* * *

Cena and Shawn were walking together, on the way to meet Dave. John had told his partner all about Christy's plea and Dave wanting to join their gang. Shawn didn't give his opinion on the subject, only asked if he could come along to the meeting. John agreed, sensing that backup might be necessary should he run into anymore trouble.

"How long have we worked together for?" Shawn asked out of the blue.

"I dunno. A year almost."

"Wow… time flies doesn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess." John answered. He was not really interested in small talk. His mind was focused on the task at hand. Silence descended on the two as they quickened their pace, eager to get to their destination. They decided not to catch a cab seeing that the diner was fairly close to their club, and on the off chance they were being followed, their pursuers would have to hoof it as well, making them easier to spot than if they were in a car.

"Remember when I set Rick up for you. What was it you told me on the phone on the way to the rendezvous?"

"I don't remember. What's with all these questions man?" John asked offhandedly.

"Wasn't it something like we were going to live the good life?" Shawn asked, refusing to answer John's question.

"Yeah. Something like that." John replied, hands in his pockets, trudging along purposefully.

"Well what happened. Why do we still have to do all this shit for?" Shawn asked.

"Because… things didn't work out. We couldn't sell the drugs, cause the cops were hot on us. No one wanted to buy them. Plus Torrie took the money and handed it into the cops anonymously. So we were back to square one. But don't worry, things are about to take a turn for the better. Just be patient." John said.

Shawn had unambiguously slowed down so he was walking behind Cena now. Cena was too wrapped up in his own thoughts to notice. Shawn reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled out a small switch blade. They were a few blocks away from the coffee shop.

A shifty smirk crept onto Shawn's face. "I'm sick of waiting. I've decided to take matters into my own hands. Goodbye Cena." Shawn murmured quietly so that only him and Cena heard what was said. The knife tore through John's sweater, past his skin and into his back. A barely audible cry leapt from Cena's mouth. No one was around to hear it though. Shawn pulled the knife out and plunged it into him again, this time a little higher.

"You were always too trusting Cena. And now you are paying for it…with your life." Were the last words Shawn muttered into Cena's ear before he extracted the knife from John's back and stuck it in one more time for good measure. John sank to his knees, then fell face first onto the pavement. Blood stained the concreate sidewalk were John lay. Shawn bent down and pulled the knife out. He put it back in his pocket and calmly walked away, leaving Cena to die slowly, in the cold of the night.

* * *

Dave sat tapping his fingers nervously on the coffee table. It was 11:20 and John still had not shown up.

"10 more minutes." Dave thought to himself. He had already been through two cups of coffee and decided against another. He was nervous as hell. If John didn't show up, what the hell was he going to do? Hunter would be on his back, he would have no where to run, and Christy made sure he had no other options. She really did set him up. A commotion outside made him look around nervously. Sirens blared as an ambulance roared by, followed by two, three cop cars. Dave decided that the meeting had been compromised and he had to leave. He picked up his coat and walked out of the shop after leaving a 20 on the table. Lot's of people were gathered around the sidewalk a few blocks down the street. The section had been taped of by the police and people's murmurs of concern were carried by the wind.

"I wonder if he's okay."

"It looks pretty bad." Were some of the things Dave heard. Probably some bum got stubbed by another for a few bucks. It amazed Dave how such a regular occurrence still managed to draw the attention of so many. Dave walked in the opposite direction and caught a cab home.

* * *

Dave got home safely, and to his great surprise, found that everyone in the house was all right as well. Dave wondered why Hunter still hadn't come for his head yet. He thought about that for all of two seconds, for he had more important things to take care of.

"How did it go?" Christy asked anxiously.

Dave did not answer. He simply walked over to the telephone and picked it up. Christy sat back down on the sofa without another word. She had obviously been stressing the whole time he was out. Maybe he was being a little too harsh on her. No time to think. He dialed the John's office number at the club and waited.

"Hello" Answered a man who sounded out of breath.

"Hi. Who is this?" Dave asked, unfamiliar with the voice.

"You tell me. You are the one that called." Panted the voice at the other end of the line.

"This is Dave. Is John there?"

"Dave… oh right. Dave, well you see, John ran into some trouble."

"What kind of trouble?"

"Well… he's dead."

Dave let that disturbing piece of information sink in.

"What?" He stammered.

"He's dead." The voice repeated.

"Okay, well then who's in charge?" Dave asked, quickly regaining his composure.

"I am." Answered the voice.

"Who are you?"

"Shawn."

"Well Shawn. Did John, by any chance, tell you about my situation?" Dave questioned.

"As a matter of fact, he did."

"Right. Great. So what do you say?"

"No."

"What?"

"No." Shawn repeated frankly.

"No what?"

"I'm sorry. But I've got a lot of things to take care of right now. With John's untimely death and all. I need to make funeral arrangements, make sure his clubs are well maintained. Plus I'm still in the grieving process. Maybe another time."

"But…" Dave tried to reason, but it was too late. Shawn hung up the phone.

"FUCK!" Dave slammed the phone down so hard, he almost broke a hole through the table the telephone was on.

"What?" Christy asked, now on her feet again.

"I'm dead."

* * *

Chris opened his eyes slowly. 11:53 am.

"Shit." He thought to himself. "Slept in again."

He hoped out of bed and put on some clothes that he found lying on the floor. He had a few errands to run today. He went over to the kitchen counter to grab his wallet when there was a knock on the door. He walked over to the door.

"NYDP. Open up now."

"What the fuck?" Chris thought out loud. He opened the door and two men came bursting into his house. One grabbed him by the neck while the other grabbed his arm. Together they forced him up against the wall and cuffed him.

"What the fuck is this all about?" He asked rather loudly.

"Sir, you're under arrest for the attempted murder of John Cena and Eddie Guerrero." The cop answered monotonously.

"The fuck? I didn't do shit!" He protested to deaf ears. The cops dragged him out of the house amid shouts of abuse and pleas of innocence by Jericho, but to no avail.

* * *

(A/N) Wow. I think that is my longest chapter to date. Major developments in this one. The story is almost done! I'm so exited. Btw, being so wrapped up in writing this thing, I totally lost count of my reviews. I just realized that I got the big 100. When I first started writing this, I said to myself, "I'd be happy with 10 reviews." Anyway 10 became 20 which became 50 and so on. I never thought that I would get 100. Wow. Seriously…thanks heaps for all the support and I'll make sure you get the bestest damn piece of writing that's ever come out of my sick, twisted and at some times demented head. Peace. 


	33. An oath to vengeance

(A/N) Hey guys. My holidays have started so I should be able to get chapters up pretty fast over the next two weeks. I'll be spending quite a bit of time at the commomwealth games so don't expect too much. Anyway on with the story…

* * *

News had spread fast within the New York underground community. The actual facts had been twisted and reshaped so much, that the truth was lost somewhere within the lies. John Cena is dead. No he's alive. He was hit by a car. He was shot. He fell down the stairs. It didn't matter what version Torrie got, her heart sank the minute she heard that John was hurt. She wasn't sure if Hunter was in on it, but she wanted to see John, just to find out for herself if he was still alive. She went to all the major hospitals in search of him. The first two were a miss, but Bellevue Hospital was a hit.

"He's in room 109. First floor, on the left." The receptionist told Torrie.

She thanked the lady and walked over to the lift.

The door to John's room was closed. She was just about to open it when she stopped herself.

Why was she feeling so apprehensive? Was she afraid to see John so frail and helpless? Whatever it was, she had to get a grip. She was squeezing the doorknob so tightly her knuckles were turning white. Torrie took a deep breath and turned the doorknob. The wooden door gave a little creak when it opened. She stepped into the room. It's smelled heavily of antiseptic. A curtain obscured her view of what she assumed to be John's bed. The steady 'beep' of the life support machine creeped her out. Wanting to get it over with, she walked over to the curtain and yanked it away almost violently. She gasped at the sight of John, heavily bandaged around the torso. Hooked up to a number of different machines. His complexion was ghost white. Eyes squinted closed, brows slightly furrowed. It looked as though he was in pain, even though he was clearly unconscious.

"Excuse me miss." A voice called out from behind her. She spun around to face the doctor who called out to her.

"Only family members allowed. I'm sorry but you'll have to leave."

Torrie turned back to look at John. He looked so frail. He needed her with him right now, in his moment of need. But just as much, she needed him as well.

"I'm his wife." Torrie answered with her back to the doctor.

"Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't realize you two were engaged. I didn't see a ring on Mr. Cena's finger so I assumed…"

"He doesn't like to wear his ring. His line of work demands a lot of physical activity." Torrie answered in an almost trance like tone. "How is he?"

"Well… he was stabbed multiple times in the back. Luckily none of his vital organs were touched. He lost a massive amount of blood though. He is still in critical condition." The doctor answered.

"Will he make it?"

"I can't say for certain. To be totally honest with you, he's got a fifty fifty shot. I'm sorry that that is all I can give you at the moment."

"Thank you." Torrie said. She was sitting next to the bed now, her hand clasping John's.

"I'll give you two some privacy." The doctor said. He turned and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

"Why do you always have to get yourself involved in situation's you can't control?" She asked John. She didn't care that he couldn't hear her. She couldn't care about anything else right now. For some reason, she felt happy, just being next to John. She felt safe and secure, even though John was in no state to protect her, just being next to him made her feel protected.

"We should have been married John. We should have had kids together. Me and you. I would stay at home, look after the kids, send them to school, pack their lunches. You would have quit your stupid gang, got a good decent job, and come home every night back to me. We would have been a family John. Why do you do this to me? You know I love you. You know I still do. So why do you keep running away?" She was crying now. She knew that everything she just said was only a dream. A desperate grasp at hope. She knew deep down inside, that it would never be a reality, no matter how much she longed for it. And as she cried, she didn't realize that John, as if answering her, gave her hand the slightest of squeezes.

* * *

It was almost dark. Dave had tried to think his way out of his predicament all day, and only one solution came to mind. Since Shawn didn't want him, he was going to try Chris. Dave picked up the phone and dialed Chris' office number. Someone picked up, but it wasn't Jericho. The voice was familiar. More gruff than Chris' voice.

"Hello?"

"Hi…Um… Is Chris there?" Dave asked.

"Nope."

"Do you know where he is?"

"Your guess is as good as mine at the moment. Who is this by the way?"

"This is Dave. Who is this? Dave asked back.

"Dave? Batista? What the hell do you want with Chris?" Dave suddenly realized who he was speaking to.

"Edge? Is that you?" He asked the man who he had beat in Hunter's underground fight competition earlier on.

"Yes. Now answer my question. What the fuck do you want?"

"I need to talk to Chris. Urgently."

"About what?" Edge queried.

Dave was in no position to tell Adam to fuck off and put Chris on, so he tried to be as polite as possible.

"It is kind of private. Yet extremely urgent. I need to talk to him."

"Anything you have to say to him, you can say to me buddy. So spill, or else this conversation is over."

"Wait! Don't hang up. I'll tell you." Dave was getting seriously desperate. "I need to join Chris' gang."

"Wow. Big bad Batista sounds distressed."

"Look Edge. We've had our differences in the past. But I'm willing to leave them behind. I need you to tell Chris' I want to join him. Please."

Silence on the line.

"I'll tell him when I see him." Edge said after contemplating the decision. Although they were enemies in the past, they had a mutual respect for each other and Dave was counting on this respect to save his life.

* * *

"Bail will be set at 2 million dollars." The harsh sound of the judge's hammer ringed in Jericho's ears. He was led out of the courtroom by the bailiff as the judge casually went on to the next case.

Chris was at a loss of words. The past few days were just such a blur, from the minute the cops busted into his house, until now, everything was a messy blur of recent events and past memories. There was nothing left to live for. Nothing left to lose.

Apparently the office of public prosecutions had enough evidence to convict him of two stabbings he did not commit. He wouldn't be surprised if they got their conviction either. The American legal system was just that reliable. It didn't matter though. He couldn't care less. Chris had planned it all out already. The first night in prison, while Chris's body was still pumping with adrenalin, his mind still clear, was when he hatched his plan to kill Shawn.

Chris was a man on a mission. A deadly desire for vengeance which had been building inside him for months. And now that everything that ever meant something to him was gone, he was going to get his revenge.

Chris used his one phone call to phone his own office in his club. He was banking on someone reliable to answer the phone. Someone he could trust. He got his wish.

"Hello?" Answered the man in Chris' office.

"Adam? Is that you?" Chris said, instantly recognizing the voice.

"Chris? Where the hell are you man?"

"I'm in jail. Where are you?" Chris asked. He was too excited to hear his best friends voice to realize he already knew the answer to his stupid question.

"I'm at the club man. Where the hell do you think. Wait… Jail? What the fuck?"

"I'm being accused of stabbing John and Eddie." Chris told Adam.

"Yeah. I heard about that. And they are pinning that shit on you?"

"Yup. Just my luck huh. Hey listen, there is no time for small talk. I need you to do me a favor."

"Yeah of course. Anything." Edge answered eagerly.

"Have you pulled the plug on our operation?" Chris asked.

"Nope. I just got the hell out when I heard about John. Shawn is in charge now. But I got out before he could get at me."

"Son of a bitch! I bet it was Shawn that stabbed Cena."

Chris thought things over for a second.

"Hey Chris, you still there?"

"Yeah. Listen, I need you to sell everything. My house, my clubs, my car, everything."

"What? Why?" Adam was taken aback by Chris' extreme demand.

"I need you to gather together 2 million dollars." Chris said.

"2 million dollars! What the hell for?"

"My bail money. I'm coming out."

"Coming out to what? If I sell everything you'll have nothing to come out to."

"It doesn't matter. The way I see it, I won't be spending much time out anyway." Chris said grimly. He paused for a moment, making sure that this was what he really wanted to do. But it wasn't about what he wanted to do, it was about what he needed to do. "Just do it for me, and quick."

"Alright." Adam said solemnly. There was no point in arguing with Chris. He had his mind made up. "By the way, I think I outghta tell you this before I forget. Dave Batista called here earlier. Said he wanted to join your gang. I told him to piss off but he was persistent. So I told him I would tell you about it. Said you would call him back. Probably not important but just thought I'd let you know he is interested."

"Ok. Thanks." The last thing Chris needed was another thing to think about. He would have to give this Batista issue a back seat in his mind while he sorted everything out first. Besides, Chris wouldn't even have a gang soon, once he sold all his clubs. He would have nothing.

"Back to the issue at hand. I need you to tell one of Cena's closest friends that I'm coming out. I'm assuming Shawn hasn't told anyone that it was him that picked off Cena so everyone will still think it's me. I need it to stay like that."

"What the hell are you planning Chris?" Adam asked. He was a little wary at all of these strange requests.

"You will find out in due time." Chris answered vaguely.

Silence descended on the line. A moment which would usually be racked with tension if it were between two regular friends was shared between Chris and Edge. Accept, it wasn't nerve racking between these two men. Because they were beyond friends. The respect and mutual understanding that Chris and Adam had build up over the years overshadowed any tension that would usually be there.

"Hey Chris. You know you can count on me don't you?" Adam finally said.

"Of course. That's why I'm asking you to do this for me. Cause I know you will do it without questioning my motives. Now one last thing. Once you've got the money rounded up, give it to my lawyer who will bail me out. I need you to stay at home and wait for my phone call for further instructions. Got it?"

"Yes." Edge answered.

"Good."

"Hey Chris. Now it's my turn to make a request."

"What?"

"What ever kind of stupid stunt you are about to pull, I want you to count me in. Don't leave me out of it. Promise?"

Chris thought about the request for a while. Initially, Adam actually wasn't going to be part of his plan. He didn't want him to get hurt. His plan was after all, extremely dangerous and he wasn't counting on coming out of it alive or free. But since Adam was doing all this for him without question, he had to grant him his one wish.

"Yes alright."

"Promise?"

"Yeah, I promise."

"Alrighty then. I guess I'll see you later." Adam said.

"Yeah. Till next time. "

Chris hung up the phone. He stood up and the guard grabbed him and hustled him back to his cell.

Sitting in his cell, Chris realized that there was no turning back now. His plan had been set into motion and he was at the point of no return. Right there and then, Chris swore an oath to his enemy.

"I promise you now Shawn. One of us is going to die at the hands of the other. And I'll be damned if it's me."

* * *

(A/N) Soooo… some mushy stuff in the beginning of the chapter between John and Torrie. I know quite a few of you wanted that. Plus, what is Chris' big plan. Will it work? Tune in next time. 


	34. The showdown

(A/N) Hey guys. Well the story is winding up. It's on the home stretch, setting up for the sprint home. A lot of stuff will be happening concurrently in these next few chapters so please bear with me. If you are having some trouble understanding what's actually going on, with the timeline or even if you are just generally lost, (I know I am), don't hesitate to ask me, through emails or reviews or anything.

Once again, thanks for all the reviews. I really appreciate you guys taking the time to share your thoughts on the story with me. I try to improve on any criticism you may have and to consider suggestions. Keep them coming baby!

* * *

Chris had collected his belongings from the check out desk at the jail. He was standing outside the jail now, wondering what to do next. He had about 50 bucks on him and that was about it. He walked out to the main street to catch a bus towards the city. He had no place to stay. No place to hide out until night time. He would just have to hope he didn't run into any unwanted trouble.

When he got off the bus, Times Square was packed. Business men and women were out for their lunch break. Chris spotted a empty telephone booth, and walked over to it. He had managed to break his 50 with the cab driver and now, had mostly coins. Chris dialed Adam's home phone number, hoping his friend had complied with his request to stay put at home.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Adam. It's me."

"Hey buddy. I'm assuming you're out?" Adams asked.

"Yeah. I'm in the city."

"Hey, if you need a place to crash…" Adam offered.

"No, I can't. It would be too risky. I can't be seen with you. Not yet."

"Right. I forgot. Sorry."

"Don't be. Anyway I need you to put the next part of my plan into operation." Chris said. He glanced around quickly to make sure no one was near the telephone booth, trying to eavesdrop.

"I'm listening." Adam replied eagerly.

"I need you to call one of Cena's close friends. Someone who really wants to get at me. But also someone who is pretty high up in the ranks."

"Rey Mysterio. He's in a real bad place. He wont question any action which involves killing you."

"Good. Call him. Tell him that I'm out of jail. Tell him you heard from an inside source that I'm gonna be at the graveyard tonight." The graveyard was a little name that Chris got into the habit of calling The Undertaker's place of abode. A personal joke.

"The graveyard?"

"Um… The Undertaker's place. You remember him right?"

"Oh… that nut job. Why there?"

"Well, because he owes me a favor. And tonight, he's going to have to deliver. Just tell him to be there at 12." Chris ordered.

"But why Rey? I thought it's Shawn that you wanted?" Adam probed further.

"Well, I figure, since Shawn is in charge, Rey will have to run the plan through him first." Chris explained.

"How do you know Shawn will listen?"

"Shawn is not one to back down from an invitation. He'll bring nothing short of an army though. He's not stupid. Which is why I need you to gather up a few guys as well. Trustworthy people. Come armed."

"Alright then. So 12 o'clock tonight is when it's going down?"

"Sharp."

"I'll see ya there. Take care of yourself Chirs."

"You too." Chris hung up the phone. "You too buddy."

Realising that he himself wasn't packing any heat, he caught a bus up to Harlem, where he met with a seedy character, no taller than 5'4. Chris had done this guy a favor a while back and was collecting his debt. Come to think about it, he was calling on every single favor anyone has ever owed him. Everything came down to tonight.

After checking the gun's reloading mechanism and chassis, he tucked the gun into his jeans and pulled his shirt over the top. Chris decided he had no more time to waste. He was going to have to set into action, the last part of his plan.

The first call went out to Dave Batista. Chris figured that if Dave was so desperate to join, why not use it to his advantage. His whole plan came down to one thing. Chaos. He was hoping that in the ensuing battle tonight, Chris would get his chance to kill Shawn. Put his demons to rest once and for all. Since Dave was such a big unit, he would no doubt draw plenty of attention to himself, and away from Chris.

"Hello?" Dave answered the phone in a cautious voice.

"Hi. Dave, it's Chris here. Chris Jericho."

"Chris! Thank god." Dave breathed a sigh of relief. "I didn't think you would call."

"Well Adam told me about your interest in joining my gang. How could I pass up such an opportunity?" Chris coaxed.

"Well you see my situation is a little complicated…" Dave quickly explained his predicament. Chris wasn't really listening but he pretended he was all ears. When Dave was done, Chris replied jovially.

"Look. This Hunter situation will have to be resolved before we can work anything out, ok?"

"Totally understandable." Dave answered.

"Why don't you meet me at 12 Carrion Avenue in the Bronx. I'm staying with a friend there at the moment. Meet me there at 12 tonight and we can talk things through." Chris gave Mark's address to Dave. The desperation in Dave's voice made Chris feel bad for playing him like this, but his number one priority was to kill Shawn. Nothing else mattered to him at the moment.

"Sure. I look forward to working for you Mr. Jericho."

"Sure thing big guy. See you there." Chris answered. The phone was hung up on both sides. "Mr. Jericho" Chris chuckled to himself. "Never heard that one before." However, it was no time for jokes. There was one more person he needed to call. The final string was to be pulled. He had to call on his final favor.

"Hello?" Answered the rough voice on the other side of the line.

"Mark? This is Chris. Remember me?"

"How could I forget. What do you want now?" Mark answered. He really wasn't keen on hearing Chris' answer.

"I need a favor. A big one." Chris replied bluntly. There was really no point in beating around the bush with Mark. He saw right through it all.

"I'm listening." Mark said slowly. He didn't like the direction this conversation was heading at all.

"I need you to be ready for a fight tonight."

"I'm retired Chris. I don't fight anymore."

"Oh, not a fight fight per se. It'll be more of a mini war." Chris said cheekily. Mark didn't find it the least bit funny however.

"What kind of trouble are you in now Chris?" Mark asked dubiously.

"The kind that doesn't go away until you deal with it."

"Well then deal with it. I don't see why I have to be dragged into it."

"Because you owe me."

"You slimy sonova…" But Chris interrupted him beforehe could finish his less than flattering remark.

"Yeah I know. It's dirty of me. But if that's what it's going to take then so be it. I need you to be armed an ready for when I come at 12 o clock tonight. Do this for me and consider the debt to have been paid. You will never see or hear from me again. Agreed?"

Mark thought about it for a second. Chris sounded anxious. Almost to the point of being desperate. Mark knew better than to ask for further details, because he wasn't going to get any. Besides, he had a fair idea of what this was all about. Once again, Mark's old school integrity and his need to repay Chris' brother Rick, forced him to agree to Chris' request, against his better judgment, which was usually right on the money.

"Fine. 12 o clock. I'm guessing I can be expecting company."

"Hmmm… yeah. That's one way could put it. See you then Calloway."

And with that, Chris ended the call.

The scene was set. The final showdown was to take place tonight. And by the next morning, either he would have his revenge, or he would be dead.

* * *

Adam impatiently drummed his fingers on the table in the crowded diner. It was 7 pm and the place was packed. He saw the man he had been waiting for and sat up straight, face emotionless, fists clenched. The small Hispanic man took a seat opposite him at the table. Adam, who had a cup of cold coffee in front of him, didn't bother asking Rey if he wanted any for himself. It was straight down to business.

"Hey." Rey greeted him. "You said you had some news concerning Chris."

"Yeah. You heard he posted bail right?" Adam queried.

"Yeah I heard." Rey shook his head in disgust. "The American legal system is fucked man. They let a cold blooded killer walk the same streets we do? That's not right bro."

"I hear you. That's why I called you here." Adam began. He leaned in closer to avoid the risk of being overheard, even though the chances of that were pretty slim, with all the noise from the other people. "I got a tip off that Chris is staying at his friends place up in the Bronx. He had to sell everything just to get out of jail…I heard." Adam quickly added the last two words. He hoped he didn't come off too suspicious. But Rey didn't notice a thing. He was too busy plotting a scheme to kill Chris.

"So let's get him." Rey said hastily, already rising from his seat. Adam half shut his eyes in frustration and shook his head vigorously. He motioned for Rey to sit down again. Rey breathed a sigh of disappointment, but took his seat nonetheless.

"He's got company with him. We'll get killed if we rush him unprepared." Adam reasoned. Rey seemed to hear nothing of it, but lit up when Adam delivered his plan. "Look, why don't you go back to The 8th Wonder, and get Shawn. I'm sure he wants some retribution for himself. Go back and get him, and I'll meet you at the address tonight at 12. We'll smoke that son ova bitch out." Adam said as he wrote down Mark's address on a napkin.

"I'll see you there." Rey said. He grabbed the address and was off before Adam could even check if he spelt it right. Adam eased back into the chair, sweat beading on his forehead. This was going to be one wild night.

* * *

(A/N) So the scene has been set. The climax of the story is upon us. Stay tuned for the next chapter (which should be in a few days) to find out what happens! 


	35. Midnight massacre at the graveyard

(A/N) Hey guys. For all those who were like "Oooohh, I loved the John and Torrie scence…" well, as much as I hate to write soppy scenes, cause I reckon I'm shit at it, I have forced myself to write another just to satisfy your needs. Don't you love me…

* * *

It took a while for John to realize that he was actually conscious, rather than in a coma induced dream like he had been for god knows how long. He had no idea how long he had been unconscious for, nor the day of the week, or even the time of day for that matter. He slowly opened his eyes. The light from the sun blinded his sensitive irises. Or was it from the lamp on the table next to him. It was. He looked around the room. The curtains were drawn. No light was seeping through the small part in the center though, so he assumed it was night time. His eyes were drawn towards the sofa in the corner of the room. There, curled up into a ball, sweater draped over her like a blanket, was a slumbering Torrie. The most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Her head was cocked slightly to one side, resting against the head of the couch. Her mouth was open just a little bit, making her look all the more appealing. Despite being severely wounded and feeling an intense pain in his torso, he felt the happiest he had ever felt in his life. The one thing that mattered to him was with him in his time of need and that was all that he cared about.

She stirred from her cat nap and opened her eyes just a fraction. She rubbed them to get the sleep out. Her eyes shot open though, when she realized that John was awake.

"Oh my god!" She cried as she leapt out of the couch. She rushed over to the bed. John put his hand out to stop her from practically jumping on him, reminding her that he was still very much in danger of slipping back into unconsciousness. "I've been so worried!" Torrie was now sitting on a hard back chair next to the bed. She was holding onto John's hand without realizing it. She suddenly released it, remembering that she was supposed to be angry at him. Things couldn't just go back to the way they were just because he was injured.

"Have you been here this whole time?" He asked weakly. He couldn't think of anything else to say.

"What? Of course not. When I heard about it, I just came to check up on you. That's all." She answered hastily.

John knew she was lying right off the bat, but he didn't care. He was just too elated. He flashed her a weak smile.

Torrie gave a half sob, have chuckle. Her eyes were welling up with tears. She couldn't hold it back any longer.

"Damn you John!" She burst out in a teasing manner. "Why do you always have to act so macho."

"Hahaha. Trust me honey. It's not an act. You know it's gonna take more than a little scratch to stop me."

"You wish. You were crying for your mummy in your sleep." She joked.

"You've been watching me sleep then?"

"Ha. For your information, I was in another room, visiting a friend. I could hear you miles away."

"Whatever honey."

"Oh, you don't get to call me that anymore." She laughed.

"I'll call you what ever the hell I want, sex slave." John continued to mock. They were having the biggest laugh at each other, just like they used to do.

Torrie's hand came up to give him a playful punch in the arm but John showed surprisingly quick reflexes for a cripple by grabbing her wrist before she could hit him. He grasped her hand, intertwining their fingers together. At that instant, while the two looked into each other's eyes, they shared a moment of silence which said more than any words could. For a second they forgot about the past and the future. The present was the only thing on their minds. The amount of fun they were having at this present moment in time, under such circumstances, outshone everything else. As if magically, everything that needed to be explained was explained, every doubt in each of their minds was expelled. Everything just fell into place. Torrie finally gave up trying to hate a man she just couldn't hate any longer.

"Ah fuck it." She exclaimed, giving into her need to be loved. She let John bring her hand up to his lips.

"I love you. He murmured onto her hand, his breath sent a wave of warmth through her body. He was about to say more but Torrie cut him off.

"Don't. You don't need to explain anything to me. I already know. Besides… you'll ruin the moment." And with that, the two had decided to spend the rest of the night, where they belonged. Next to each other.

* * *

"Shawn! We need to talk." Rey said, as he burst through the door of John's old office. Which was now Shawn's. A man Rey had never seen before was sitting opposite Shawn. "Alone." Rey added, looking straight at Shawn, paying no attention to the other man.

"Come back in an hours time. Ok?" Shawn said to the guy, who nodded his head. He didn't look very pleased but he stood up nonetheless. When he left the room, Shawn tried to start the conversation but Rey cut him off, launching straight into his plan.

"That man was a very important clie…"

"I know where Chris will be tonight. We can go get him. Get him back for what he did to John."

Shawn showed an obvious dislike for being interrupted. But he catered for Mysterio nonetheless. "Woah. Ok you need to slow down. Take a seat and tell me what you have to say. Slowly."

"Chris is going to be at this address. Tonight at 12." Rey said as he flung the napkin across the desk towards Shawn. He picked up the napkin and studied the address. The address wasn't a familiar one to him.

"And who gave you this information?" Shawn asked.

"Adam."

"Ahhh. Adam. I see." Shawn said with a smile on his face. He laughed inwardly at his opponents futile attempt at tricking him.

"So. Let's go!" Rey said impatiently.

"You really want to go get Chris then don't you?" Shawn said. He enjoyed toying with his employees.

"Of course!" Rey burst out. "Don't you?"

"Yes. Of course I do."

"Well then, let's go!"

"Ok then. Go round up 6 men. All armed. We'll go in two cars. I'll meet you out in the parking lot in 30 minutes." Shawn said.

"Finally! Some action." Rey was bouncing with excitement. He practically skipped out of the room, on his way to carry out his bosses orders.

"If it's a fight you want…" Shawn began when Rey left the room. He opened the desk drawer and pulled out a semi automatic. He slid the magazine out with a cunning grin on his face. "It's a fight you'll get. And oh what a fight you are going to get Chrissy boy." He snapped the magazine back into the weapon and left for the parking lot.

* * *

"But boss, shouldn't we wait just a little longer. Just to see what his next move is?" Ric suggested cautiously.

"Shut up Ric. We are not waiting any longer. We go now, and we show that mother fucker what happens when you fuck with me." Hunter said. He had been in a livid mood lately. All his attention and focus was on getting back at Dave and Christy that he had shut himself out from everything else. He hadn't seen much of Torrie lately, but he would deal with her later. If he suspected right, and she was cheating on him, she would suffer the same fate Dave was about to. But that was another story for a different day.

Randy and Ric had put their own necks on the line during the past few days, trying to convince Hunter to wait on getting back at Dave. To come up with a fullproof plan before going head on at The Animal. Trying to give their friend a little more time. But there was no swaying Hunter this time. He had his mind set on killing Dave tonight.

Hunter, Randy, Ric and Hunter's newly appointed muscle, Chris Masters, got into the BMW and all four doors shut simultaneously.

"I'm coming for you Dave." Hunter said in his head.

"Get out of the country Dave. Please." Randy said in his.

* * *

"Dave was about ready to leave for his meeting with Chris and he was feeling a lot better now that he had found his way out. Things were still rough with Christy, but he had decided he would give her another chance once he settled things with Chris. Maybe they could live happily ever after. He didn't want to think about that now. He had to focus on tonight.

After taking his third shower of the night, he decided it was time to go. He grabbed his coat and was about to leave the house when someone from the bedroom called out to him.

"Where are you going?" Christy's voice came over his shoulder.

"No where." He said.

"I don't believe you."

"Then don't." He shot back. He had turned around and was now facing her. She was standing in the doorway of the bedroom. She spent most of the day in there ever since the thing with John. Dave slept on the couch. She continued to stare him down.

"I'm off to a meeting." He said bluntly. He didn't want to give her anymore.

"Who with?" She pressed on.

"None of your business ok? Just go back to bed." With that Dave turned around and left.

Christy ran forward to try and catch him but he was gone. She spotted the car keys, still on the kitchen counter and she grabbed them. She wondered why Dave wasn't taking the car. Probably because he didn't want to be spotted. And with such a flamboyantly colored automobile, it was sort of hard to miss. She didn't care though.

"I'll be damned if he thinks he can leave me out of his new life." Christy said to herself as she just caught him getting into a cab. She jumped into the car just as the cab turned the corner and sped off. She was certain he was going to meet with another gang leader to possibly start a new life and she wanted to be part of it. So she pulled out of the driveway, and accelerated after him.

* * *

Hunter and the gang arrived at Dave's house just in time to see his car speed around the corner.

"There he is!" Hunter practically yelled at Randy, who was driving the car. "Follow him."

"He's in a hurry." Masters commented, but he was ignored. Hunter's attention was fixated on the florescent orange sports car ahead.

"You can't run from me Dave. I'm gonna catch you. And when I do, you are a dead man." Hunter said vehemently.

* * *

John and Torrie sharing a joke together, giggling uncontrollably when the door to the room opened. Detective Marcy stepped into the room.

"Hello detective. What can I do for you today?" John said in a jovial manner. He had forgotten about the way he was treated by this man back when he was a suspect to Rick's murder. Or maybe he didn't care. No one could do anything wrong to him right now. He was on cloud nine.

"Hello John. Good to see you are feeling better. Good evening miss." He acknowledged both John and Torrie. "I heard that you were making a speedy recovery and I just wanted to come and check up on you."

"Haha. Cut the crap detective. I know cops don't check up on patients just for the hell of it. They always got an ulterior motive. Since I'm the victim this time, instead of the suspect, I'll be happy to help you in any way possible." John said.

"Oh alright. You caught me." The detective said with a smile. He took a seat on the opposite side of the bed that Torrie was on. "I just wanted to let you know we caught the guy who did this to you. He posted bail this afternoon but we're keeping a close eye on him. His trial will be in a few weeks. I wanted to see if you would be well enough to testify. Now that I see that you are, I feel the bastard will rot in jail for sure."

"That's good. Finally you cops get one thing right." John joked. Both John and Torrie laughed. Even detective Marcy gave a little chuckle. He stood up and ran a hand through his messy brown hair.

"Well, I'll drop by another time to tell you the exact date of the trial. Ok?"

"Yeah sure." John said.

Before the detective left the room, John had one more question.

"How long do you think he'll get?" Cena asked.

The detective turned around to answer his question. "Well. Because of the mitigating circumstances, he won't get the maximum. But nothing short of 10 years I would say. We can ask the D.A. to push for 15 but his lawyer will argue that he was under the impression that you killed his brother so he was acting in rage."

"Woah…are we talking about the same person here?" John asked. He had a look of confusion on his face."

"What's wrong honey?" Torrie asked but John was focused on the detective.

"Chris Jericho. He stabbed you didn't he?" The detective asked. He had shut the door and was now standing next to the bed again.

"What! No way. It was Shawn Michaels. Michaels was the one that tried to kill me. Chris had nothing to do with it."

The detective swore under his breath. He turned around and left the room in silence.

* * *

Shawn and Rey sat in their silver Honda in silence. Two other mean looking men sat in the back seat, both holding automatic hand pistols. Another silver car of similar make was parked behind them, in which four other of Shawn's soldiers were sitting and waiting, also with auto's. They were parked a few houses down from the agreed meeting point. Shawn decided to arrive a little earlier than Adam, just so he could scout out the surroundings. Nothing looked fishy or out of place. Just a dump of a house sitting in the middle of nowhere. There were a few other houses around but they all looked deserted, with boarded up windows and doors. Besides, you would have to be crazy to want to live in this neighborhood anyway.

Rey saw a blue sedan pull up into the driveway of the agreed meeting point. When he saw the person who got out of it, he flipped.

"That's him. That's Chris. Let's go fuck him up!" He said hastily.

"Woah. Hold up Mucha Lucha. What's he doing pulling up at the place. I thought u told me he was staying here." Shawn said, arm across Rey's chest, preventing him from blowing their cover.

"Who cares. He's here ain't he. Let's go!" Rey tried to push Shawn's hand away but was stopped in his tracks when he saw another car pull up. Chris who was almost at the door of the house stopped too. Rey was utterly confused when he saw who came out of the new arrival.

* * *

"Hey Chris." Adam called out.

"Hey man! Long time no see bro!" Chris called out in a hushed tone. It seemed as if no one had arrived yet, but he didn't want to take any chances.

The two embraced, letting their emotions run loose for a while. They had not had any interaction for quite a while, so they took this brief moment before the battle to catch up.

"Hey. I got three guys waiting in the car. All packing so we're all set." Adam said.

"Good. Tell them to wait there until I give the signal. I'm gonna go inside and speak to Mar…"

However he was interrupted by a voice calling out across the street.

"HEY WHAT THE FUCK ESSE! WHAT YOU DOING WITH THAT SCUM BAG!"

Both men spun around to see who was calling out. Chris swore under his breath when he saw who it was.

"Fuck! They're here." However his blood really began to boil when Shawn stepped out of the car next to Rey. Two other men from Shawn's car and four other men from another car behind them also filled the streets. They stood their ground though and showed no signs of taking the first shot.

"Personally Chris. I'm offended. I'm offended that you would think I would be so stupid as to believe your sad excuse of a set up. Honestly, did you think I would not see past your little scheme here." Shawn called out in a mocking tone.

Chris remained silent, staring daggers into Shawn's eyes. But Shawn was not swayed by the fire in Chris' eyes. He continued to berate his opponent.

"You see Chris. You and your brother are exactly the same. Both of you thought I was just a mindless , dumb assed follower with no ambitions or goals of his own. Now you see how wrong your brother was and he paid for it with his life. And now tonight, you are

finally going to get to join him. You are also going to pay with your life for under estimating me."

Chris' face remained emotionless. Adam already had his hand lingering around his waist, ready to grab his gun. The men in his car had no idea what was going on. Their view of Shawn and his gang was obscured by the neighboring house.

"Oh I didn't assume you were ambitionless." Chris called back. "In fact quite the opposite. I assumed you were too ambitious. And I was right. And if there was one mistake my brother made, it was not being able to see it in you. You see in actual fact, my brother and John Cena are the ones who are very much alike."

"Shut the fuck up!" Rey yelled out. "Don't you dare talk about John!" Rey pulled out his weapon but Shawn stepped in front of him.

"Calm down Rey. You'll get your chance to pump him full of lead later." Shawn forced Rey to lower his weapon and the little Mexican obliged.

"Now tell me Chris. How is Rick the same as John?" Shawn had refocused his attention to Jericho.

"Well you see, they are both horrible judges of character. They wouldn't be able to notice a rat if it has hanging from it's tail, right in front of their faces. Just as my brother couldn't spot the rat in you, John couldn't spot the rat in Adam. Also, both of them mistook your ambition, for determination, and they both paid for it."

"Shut up! SHUT YOUR MOUTH RIGHT NOW BEFORE I SHUT IT FOR YOU!" It was Shawn this time, who did the yelling. Rey looked confused. He didn't know what Chris was going on about. He had backed up a few paces and was looking at Shawn in a awkward way.

"What! Oh come on Rey. You don't believe this bull shitter do you? Don't you believe him for a second. It's all a load of shit." Shawn had lost his cool and was showing signs of losing it.

"What? You mean you didn't tell Rey about your disease? About your inability to stay loyal." A cocky smirk had crept onto Chris' visage which infuriated Shawn even more. He was supposed to be in control of this conversation. Not Chris. "The second I started to become involved in the business, and Rick began to turn his back on you in favor of me, you screwed him over. You jumped boat over to John's team. To become his little bitch. Then when John stopped giving you the loving you longed for, and started to turn to Adam over you, you just lost it. A new boy, who had only just joined, was getting more loving than you. You got pissed off didn't you." Rey was seriously torn now. He had no idea who was telling the truth and who was bullshitting. Chris continued to inject doubt into him. "You felt you had to take John out of the picture. If you did that, you would be the top dog. You would get to have your own little bitches. So you did what had to be done so you could be loved."

Shawn was livid now. He had his pistol pointed at Chris' face. His own face was burning red with fury. "I thought I told you to shut your mouth!"

Chris continued. He needed to buy time. Dave still hadn't arrived yet, and he was hoping Mark would hear the commotion and come out as well.

"You know the saying, 'everything is bigger in Texas.' Well, I wasn't a very strong believer of that proverb until I met you. Because you my friend, have the biggest damn ego in the world. Bigger than mine, believe it or not. And tonight, tonight your ego is going to get you killed."

Just as Chris had finished his sentence, a yellow cab turned the corner and Dave Batista got out of the car with a look of utter confusion on his face.

"Shawn? What the fuck is going here?" Shawn and his entourage, including Rey spun around to face the voice of the large man. Shawn turned back to point the gun at Chris.

"You dirty little mother fucker. You set me up! I'LL KILL YOU!" Shawn fired once but his hand was shaking with rage, so much so, that his shot flew just wide of Chris' left ear. Chris, Adam and Dave dove for cover as Shawn's gang began firing wildly. The men in Adam's car finally got out after hearing the exchange of ammunition and joined it. A flouro car came screeching around the corner, with a cream coloured BMW in hot pursuit. The bright orange car came to a screeching halt, but not before smashing into one of Shawn's men, sending him flying. The BMW was unable to stop in time, crashing into the back of the orange sports car. A fiery red head leapt out of the sports car and ran towards Dave.

"Help. These crazy guys are trying to kill me!" She screamed wildly. She was frantic and was oblivious to the gunshots around her.

Dave stood up to full height. "Get down Christy! You're gonna get shot!" He yelled but it was too late. Her body jerked sideways as a stray bullet tore through her side. Dave's face was frozen in a contorted mixture of rage and shock.

* * *

"There he is! Hunter yelled. He had got out of the car along with Randy, Ric and Masters. Hunter had drawn his gun as had Masters and they began firing at Dave. Randy and Ric stood back and took cover behind the BMW which was getting shot to shit. Dave had duck, spun and weaved to the cover of a deserted house. Chris Masters was felled by yet another wildly fired bullet and Hunter had to delay his attempt at killing Dave to take cover for himself.

Suddenly, the door to Mark's house flew open and the massive man came roaring out of his house, a 12 gauge shot gun in hand. "You're shooting up my house!" He yelled in a fit of rage, shot gun going crazy as if it had a mind of it's own. Chris and Adam had also began shooting as bodies began to fall everywhere.

"You're bleeding on my front lawn!" Mark continued to yell. He ran out of bullets for his shot gun, and was about to pick up a gun off the ground when he took a bullet to the shoulder, which slowed him down a little. He managed to crawl towards Chris and Adam who were taking cover behind Chris' car.

"Where was the warning?" Mark shouted over the gunfire.

"Sorry. You alright?" Chris asked, motioning to his shoulder.

"Yeah. But my house isn't. I hope you know you're paying for the damage." Mark said. There was no hint of him being joking, even though it was the most ridiculous thing Chris had ever heard under the circumstances.

"Are you serious. That piece of crap you call a house isn't worth a penny."

* * *

During the chaos, Dave had managed to run back out into the battlefield and he dragged Christy to cover. As she lay on the ground, her body shook violently as she coughed up more blood. Her white blouse was stained red, and blood was gushing out of her wound. Dave took off his shirt and tried to apply pressure to the wound, but the blood just kept coming.

"Why did you come Christy? Why. You're so stupid." Dave sobbed.

"I didn't wa…want you t…t…to… leave me." Christy managed to squeeze out in between coughs.

"I wasn't going to leave you Christy. I was never going to leave you. I was coming here to set up a new life. For us. For us to be together." Christy smiled at the sound of this. She managed to bring her hand up to Dave's face, to wipe away the tears which were rolling down his cheeks.

"I lo…love you Dave."

"Don't tell me that now. Tell me that when we are living happily ever after. In a house. With kids. Not now." He pleaded. Both she and he knew that that wasn't going to happen though. She continued to smile as her hand fell from his face, and onto her own chest. She stopped coughing, stopped moving, and stopped breathing. For a second, Dave's heart stopped as well, but went into overdrive after a few seconds as the blood coursed through him burning hot. He placed a final kiss on Christy's bloodied cheek and stood up. He saw Hunter and gang hoofing it out of the area.

"This ends now Hunter." He said to himself. The hunter had become the hunted. The Animal had been let loose. The chase began.

* * *

The gunfire had died off. There was only one sound now. The sound of death. Total silence. All of Shawn's men were down. Unfortunately for them, they were stuck in the crossfire between Chris' and Hunter's men, so they took the majority of the hits. Most of them were dead, some still squirming, fighting for their life. All of Adam's men were dead. Rey was crouched behind the car. His body had prevented him from acting when he needed to act the most. But what would he have done. Was he to believe Shawn, and shoot Chris. Or to believe Chris, and kill Shawn. He had no idea what to think anymore.

"You better still be alive Shawn. I don't want you to have the satisfaction of a quick death. I wanna kill you slow and painfully." Chris called out from his hiding spot behind his car. Edge beside him, as was Mark, both crouching low.

"I'm not going to be doing any dying of any sort tonight. It's gonna be you who's going to be buried six feet deep." Shawn replied.

The sound of sirens suddenly cut through the deathly silence. Three cop cars came screeching around the corner.

"Fuck!" Chris swore to himself. Not now. Why did they have to come now. He was so close. He heard the sound of footsteps on the pavement. Shawn was making a run for it. Adam saw the pain and frustration in his friends eyes.

"Go." He said. "Go get him. I'll deal with the cops."

"But…" Chris started.

"He's right. Go now! He's getting away." Mark interrupted. Adam nodded, and motioned for him to make a run for it. Chris grabbed Adam around the neck and gave him one last bone crunching hug.

"Mmmmppphh…" Came Adam's muffled cry. "Get out of here."

Chris looked at Mark. He patted his massive shoulder.

"Thanks." Chris said. He stood to see Shawn running down the street, away from the cops. Still crouching, he sprinted around Mark's house in an attempt to cut him of on the next street across. He could hear the cops behind him.

"Freeze! Put your hand's in the air and get down on the ground."

Adam and Mark both stood up with their hands in the air.

Chris took one last look behind his back to see the cops swarm the two men, whom they forced to the ground and cuffed. Fortunately, they didn't see him or Shawn. He would have his revenge.

* * *

(A/N) Ahhhh… the climax! I hope you liked it. I had been playing with the idea of bringing all three gangs together in a massive shoot out since I began writing this story. I couldn't think of a way to make it work though. I almost abandoned the idea. Hope I did a good job with it. Tell me what you think.

Sorry to all Christy Hemme fans. It just had to happen. I'm sure a lot of you saw it coming. Don't get too angry at me please!

Also,I would like to draw your attention to the pun "The hunter had now become the hunted." I reckon that is the best god damn double meaning pun ever!


	36. Final confrontations

(A/N) Hey guys. Seriously, thanks for all the reviews. I'm glad you liked that chapter. It was an unusually long one, coming from me, and I really enjoyed writing that chapter. Anyway I won't ramble on like I usually do as I'm sure you are dying to find out what happens next… so on with the story…

* * *

Hunter, Randy and Ric all showed surprising pace in running for their lives. They quickened their pace even more when they heard the faint sound of sirens behind them. Hunter sneaked a glance behind him and saw Dave chasing after them. Hunter thought about turning around and shooting him but he realized that he didn't have his gun with him anymore. Probably threw it away as he started running. As they reached a main road, Hunter saw a pair of headlights approach them. He stood in the middle of the road and waved his arms frantically. The car pulled to a rolling stop and a middle aged man got out with a look of concern on his face.

"What's wrong? Is everything ok?" He asked Hunter. He didn't get an answer though. Instead, Hunter and gang had hurried over to the man. Hunter took a swipe at the guys face and felled him with one hit. He hopped into the driver's seat. His two men barely had time to get in before Hunter put his foot down on the accelerator and shot out of there before Dave could stop him. In his rear view mirror, he saw Dave employ the same tactic. Dave got into a blue Ford and was speeding after him not too long after.

"Fuck!" Hunter swore out loud. Dave was like a man possessed. This chase wasn't going to end anytime soon. Hunter would have to confront Dave. On one hand, he did have the advantage of numbers. Maybe he could overpower Batista with the help of Randy and Ric. He would have to try, because on the other hand, Dave looked hell bent on killing him. Hunter had never in his life seen him so angry. He played back in his mind, the moment when he was running away form the scene of the crime. When he turned around to catch a glance behind him, he saw a fury he had never experienced before, resonating in Dave's eyes. He shivered violently, almost losing control of the car.

For the first time in a long time, probably the first time ever, Hunter was truly terrified.

* * *

Chris had run around Mark's house and was hot on the trail of Shawn. He wished he had just one more bullet in his gun. He would have ended the chase right there and then. Adam and Mark were still present in the back of his mind. He wondered if they were okay. He wondered about their future. They both had made the ultimate sacrifice for him, and he couldn't let them down. They gave up their freedom so that he could have his revenge. Under no circumstances was he going to let them go to prison in vain. With that in mind, he resumed his chase with full vigor and determination.

"Stop running and make it easy on yourself Shawn!" He yelled out.

"Fuck you!" Shawn called out over his shoulder.

Shawn's insult bounced right off Chris. He put his head down and chased even harder. He was determined to put his demons to rest tonight, once and for all.

* * *

Hunter turned off the main road and onto a dirt path. Unfortunately, the car that Dave had stolen was more powerful than his car, so he was going to have to out drive him on the winding off track. Another peek in the rear view showed Dave not far behind him. The Animal proved to be a better driver than Hunter had expected.

Hunter noticed that the road was on an incline, just slightly. It seemed that they were driving out of the city, up into a mountain or a cliff of some sort. Realizing that the road might come to a dead end, Hunter started to become very nervous.

* * *

Shawn was running hard. There was no doubt any more. He was scared. Who wouldn't be? The brother of a man you killed, all grown up, has come to get revenge. Any normal person would be shitting themselves. Shawn was feeling very normal at the moment. His heart threatened to burst out of his chest, it was pounding so hard. His lungs felt as if they were going to explode. His muscles felt like they were disintegrating slowly but surely. He wasn't sure how much longer he could continue running.

Chris on the other hand, felt no pain. Not even weariness. His muscles were fueled by adrenalin. His adrenalin was supplied by his excitement. And his excitement was derived from his lust for revenge. His rage. And he had plenty of that. The sound of sirens had dissipated. The only sounds now, was that of Shawn's labored breathing, and the pounding of two sets of feet on the road. Shawn made a turn off into yet another residential street. This one was significantly smaller than the one they were running on before.

However there were two things that both men failed to take notice of. One was the sign at the beginning of the street which read "Dead end". And the other, was the sound of another pair of footsteps, in pursuit of both of them.

* * *

After navigating a series of dangerous turns, Hunter had come to a straight road. He pushed his foot down on the gas but Ric who was sitting beside him yelled out in a terror.

"STOP! YOU'RE HEADING FOR A CLIFF!"

The screech of the brakes followed, which was in turn echoed by the screech of Dave's brakes.

Hunter had stopped just a few feet short of the edge. He heard Dave's car door open, then slam shut.

"Get out boys. We stop running now. Let's finish this." Hunter ordered in the bravest voice he could muster at this point in time. Unfortunately, his bravest voice still trembled with fear, and this didn't help the morale of his two subordinates. They obeyed his orders nonetheless. Once Randy and Ric were out of the car. Hunter got out slowly.

"Get out of the way you two. This is between me and Hunter. I don't want to hurt you guys, but I will if I have to." Dave said. There was no emotion at all in his voice which was as cold as Alaska during winter. Randy and Ric felt the chill. Dave stopped right in front of the two men and looked both of them in the eyes. Dave's eyes were bloodshot from the crying back at the 'graveyard'. It made his intense aura all the more frightful.

"Get him! Kill him! Now!" Hunter yelled from behind the safety of both Randy and Ric, and his car.

Dave shifted his deadly stare to Hunter. The ringleader of Evolution felt his knees buckle underneath him.

Dave walked right through Randy and Ric, brushing them both to the side. He charged at Hunter, but Hunter was too swift for him on this occasion. He rushed to the other side of the car before Dave could reach him. Now only the car separated the two men from each other.

"I'm going to kill you Hunter. There is nothing Ric or Randy our yourself for that matter, can do to stop me." Dave said in a chillingly calm voice.

Hunter formed a retort in his head, but when he tried to say it, nothing came out. The words got stuck somewhere in between his brain and his mouth.

Finally, the only thing Hunter could say was "Help me boys! Get him! Now!" Hunter could see his two men look at each other hesitantly. They didn't know what to do. Both of them were looking to each other to make the first move so that the other could follow suit, but no one wanted to make that first move.

"GET HIM NOW OR I'LL KILL YOU BOTH MYSELF!" Hunter yelled desperately. Fueled by the fear that Hunter had instilled with his threat, Ric and Randy leapt into action. They dived on Dave and grabbed him around the arms, and neck and anywhere they could. Dave however, showed amazing strength in pushing both of them off. But Hunter was on him before he could regain his bearings. Hunter slammed his fist into Dave's stomach. The big man fell to his knees. His knee then went crashing into Dave's face, sending him sprawling onto the dirt. Blood started flowing out of the cut on Dave's chin. The big man was dazed.

"You think you can fuck with me?" Hunter said to Dave. He had regained his cockiness. Hunter bent over so his face was nearly touching Dave's. He dropped his knee into Dave's torso, making him groan in pain. "I'm the boss. I'm the master. Nobody… NOBODY fucks with me!" Hunter yelled, spitting on Dave's face. "Pick him up." Hunter ordered. His two henchmen followed his orders. They each grabbed Dave by an arm and hauled him onto his feet.

Hunter got up close to Dave's face, which had smeared with a mixture of both Christy's and his own blood.

"What were you thinking? Did you think you could get me? Did you think you could actually kill me?" Hunter taunted. "You should have followed orders. If you had listened to me like a good little boy, Christy would still be alive, and so would you. Unfortunately, since you have been a bad boy, I'm gonna have to kill you now."

At the sound of Christy's name, Dave lifted his head to meet Hunter's cocky gaze. He gathered up the biggest glob of spit he could muster, and spat a mixture of blood and phlegm right into Hunter's eyes.

"Dirty son of a bitch." Hunter growled as he wiped the saliva off his face. He punched Dave once more in the stomach, forcing the big man to double over, gasping for air.

"Kill him. Throw him off the cliff." Hunter ordered over his shoulder as he turned around to go back to the car.

"Woah boss. I can't do that." Randy said shakily.

"Yeah H. Let's just leave him here. Let the cops handle it." Ric backed him up. Both of them were reluctant to be the ones to have to kill their former friend.

"The cops aren't gonna handle SHIT! Now throw the mother fucker off, and let's go!" Hunter said, raising his voice. He still hadn't turned around.

Randy and Ric looked at each other nervously. They were torn between their bosses orders and their friend's pain. Simultaneously, they let go of Dave's arms. Dave dropped to his knees. His head bowed, he gulped the air into his lungs, trying to get his wind back.

Sensing that his two henchmen had not done the job that he had asked, Hunter finally turned around to see what was going on. He was shocked and horrified to see what had taken place.

Randy and Ric stood behind Dave, who was slowly getting to his feet.

"What the hell is going on? Throw him off the damn cliff! DO IT NOW!" Hunter said. He was starting to get nervous again, and it showed in his voice.

Dave was now standing at full height and was striding towards Hunter.

Hunter wanted desperately to run. To hop into the car and drive away. To live to fight another day. But his legs wouldn't let him. He was cemented to the ground.

"What are you two doing? You traitorous bastards! STOP HIM!" He screamed. Randy and Ric just stared at him impassively.

Dave broke into a run. Seeing the large animal charging at him finally sent his legs into motion. He spun around and tried to get away but it was too late. In a few strides, Dave had jumped ontop of Hunter. The two men rolled around on the ground, kicking dirt up in the air. When the dirt settled, Randy and Ric could see that Dave was on top of Hunter, and was unleashing all his fury on him. Dave was crushing Hunter's face with his punches. Hunter tried to cover up but Dave was just too strong and too angry.

Finally, Dave got to his feet and he picked Hunter up by the collar. Dave began dragging a bloodied and broken Hunter towards the edge. Dave looked towards Randy and Ric as if to ask them if they were going to stop him from killing Hunter. They stood aside to let Dave pass. Dave couldn't tell if it was because they didn't object to Hunter dying, or if it was because they were just too scared to stop him. Probably a little bit of both. Randy and Ric made it clear when they released Dave, that they weren't too fond of their oppressive boss. Dave had dragged Hunter to the edge and he lifted him up off the ground. Hunter had his back to the enormous drop so he couldn't tell exactly how far down it was. His feet dangling inches off the ground, he felt the wind howling against his ears so he began to get a rough idea of the height. He began begging, but Dave would have nothing of it.

"Pl… please Dave… please. D… d…don't d…d… do… it. Pl… please."

"Shut up Hunter. Nothing you say is going to change my mind. You made my life miserable. You took away the only person that ever mattered to me. YOU TOOK HER AWAY!" Tears were pouring down Dave's cheeks. Washing away the blood like rain. "YOU KILLED HER!"

"N…no. It was… wasn't m…m…m…me." Hunter continued to beg.

"You may not have pulled the trigger. But you put the bullets in the gun. Her blood is on your hands. And the only way to even the score, is for your blood to be spilt in turn." Dave said. The tears had stopped. The emotion was gone. All that was left was an ice cold, murderous apparition of Dave's former self.

"Please! Don't!" were the last pitiful words to have come out of Hunter's mouth before Dave threw him off.

"Hunter's pleas continued as he fell to his death. They trailed off slowly before coming to an abrupt and sickening halt. All was quite again. Dave turned around to face Randy and Ric once again. They stood rooted to the spot, stunned by what had just unfolded, not able to say anything.

As Dave walked past them, he muttered one word to both men.

"Thanks."

* * *

"FUCK!" Shawn yelled as he came to stop. The road had lead to a dead end roundabout just as the sign had said. His escape was blocked by a row of terrace houses. A cul – de – sac.

"It's over Shawn. There's no where left to run." Chris said. He had stopped running as well, as soon as he saw that Shawn had no way out.

"Who says I'm going to run. You know damn well that I could kick your pathetic little ass any day." Shawn said.

"Oh yeah? Is that right? Prove it." Chris challenged.

Shawn approached Chris cautiously. His hands were up, in a fighting position. Chris stood his ground and waited for Shawn to come to him. As Shawn got close, he dropped his hands and tried to sprint around Chris, but Jericho was far too agile for that.

Chris made a dive and tapped Shawn's ankles as he tried to run past him, sending Michael's tumbling to the unforgiving cement surface. All scratched up, Shawn tried to get back up on his feet and run for it but Chris jumped on his back and brought him back down to the ground. He rolled Shawn on to his back so that he could lay into his face but Shawn took the opportunity to take the first punch. Chris was unfazed by the hit to his face, and began to lay into his enemy. He pounded Shawn half to death, breaking every bone in his face. Shawn's head was sandwiched between Chris' fists of fury, and the cement. The back of his head was taking just as much punishment as his face. Shawn was almost knocked out cold when he heard a familiar voice call out.

"STOP! Get off him now." Rey called out. Evidently, Mysterio had evaded the cops as well, and had followed the two men into the cul – de – sac. He had his gun steadied, and aimed straight at Chris chest. Jericho reluctantly got off Shawn and stood with his hands in the air.

"Fuck!" Chris swore out loud. He was so close. "Come on Rey. Shawn was the one that killed John. It was Shawn. First he backstabbed my brother, then he backstabbed John. It was him god dammit. Not me." Chris tried to reason.

Shawn got to his feet gingerly. His face was covered in blood. "You fucken cock sucker. Look what you did to my face!" Shawn said angrily. He punched Chris in the stomach, causing him to fall to his knees, gasping for air.

"I don't see what you are so angry about Shawn?" Chris said on his knees in between labored breaths. "I reckon I did you a favor. I mean you look a hell of a lot better now than before."

"Shut the fuck up." Shawn said as he kicked Chris in the face, putting him on his back. "Shoot the son of a bitch, and let's get out of here." Shawn said as he began walking backwards towards his fighter, keeping his eyes on Chris.

"Stop where you are Shawn." Rey said in a cold voice.

Shawn stopped halfway in between Chris and Rey. "What is it Rey?" He asked as he turned around slowly. "Woah. What the fuck? What the fuck are you doing man?" Shawn asked with a look of total bewilderment on his bloodied face. Rey had his gun pointed at Shawn's chest now.

"Get back. Right back esse or I'll blow a hole in your chest."

"Rey, come on. You seriously don't believe that cocksucker?" Shawn pleaded, motioning to Chris who had got to his feet, and was wiping the blood from his mouth. Chris had a look of confusion on his face as well. He had no idea what was going on either.

"Get back Shawn. Next to Chris. Now. I'm warning you." Rey said again.

Reluctantly, Shawn stepped back towards Chris.

"Welcome back buddy." Chris said from behind him. Shawn felt a fist crash into his kidneys.

"Stop it!" Rey ordered. "No sudden movements or I'll blast you both."

Shawn stood up slowly again. Both men now had their hands raised above their head. Rey had taken total control of the situation. He had to make a decision. Who was he supposed to believe. A man he had been co workers with for almost a year now. Or a man he barely knew. Who he had believed so strongly had stabbed his friend and boss, until now.

"Rey. Look at me man." Shawn pleaded. "I'm your friend. We have worked together for ages. We've been through it all. Me and John were tight. I loved him like a brother. Do you seriously think that I would try to kill him? You have to believe me." Shawn said, stating his case.

Rey looked to Chris. However, Chris said nothing. He just looked Rey straight in the eyes.

They say the eyes are the window to the soul. Rey's view into Chris soul was clouded. Clouded by the rage, the pain and the anguish in his eyes. But after looking deeper, Rey had made his decision. He was certain it was the right one. His gun which had been pointing at Chris previously, slowly swiveled towards Shawn's chest.

"No. Don't you dare Rey. DON'T YOU DARE! DON'T YOU BELIEVE HIM REY! FUCK! DON'T YOU BELIEVE HIM." Shawn was yelling now. He couldn't mask the terror anymore.

Shawn suddenly leapt behind and wrapped his arm around Chris's neck. He had Chris in a hostage position. Rey tried to take aim, but Chris was in the way.

Jericho was loosing oxygen. Shawn had a tight grip around Chris' neck. Feeling an opening, Chris crashed his elbow into Shawn's ribs. Shawn doubled over in pain. Chris kicked Shawn once while he was on the ground, then back away towards Rey. When he was sure Shawn wasn't going to get up, he turned around to face Rey. He nodded to him in acknowledgement. As he got close to the Mexican, he patted him on the shoulder.

"Thanks." Chris said as he walked past him not looking back.

"Hey!" Rey called out to him. "Don't you want to do it?" Rey asked.

Chris stopped and turned around. He looked at Shawn's pitiful figure on the ground. He had his chance to get his revenge. Once and for all.

"No." Chris said bluntly. "Enough blood has been spilt because of me tonight. You do it."

Rey nodded to him. Chris turned around again and continued his walk out of the dead end road. The sound of a solitary gun shot echoed in the night as the final piece of Chris' jigsaw puzzle fell into place.

* * *

(A/N) So… I hope everyone got the ending. I hope I covered all bases. All unfinished business has been dealt with. All ends have been tied up I hope. If I'm missing something, I apologize. Let me know if I have and I'll tie it up somewhere in the next three chapters. That's right, only three chapters to go. tear falls from right eye. I can't believe it's almost over!

* * *

P.S. I know i said that i would get a lot done over the holidays and i apologize if you feel that that wasn't the case. I actually had finished this chapter a while ago, but couldn't upload it onto this site, so was a little cut about that. Once again sorry.

P.P.S I got some bad news. I'm afraid i'm going to have to put this story on hold once again. I have a very fragile situation at home at the moment. One of my family members has fallen seriously ill and I feel like i need to take care of that before i can really concentrate on writing again. I'm afraid family comes first and i'm sure you will all understand. Once again I apologize and hope this passes over soon so that I can finish the story properly.


	37. 5 years on: Solace

(A/N) Hey guys. Finally got a chance to start writing again and this of course means that the story will be wrapping up soon. Just to refresh everyone's memory since it has been such a long time, Hunter has been killed by an enraged Batista who has lost the love of his life. Shawn Michaels is dead at the hands of Mysterio and Jericho and John and Torrie have made up and are very much in love again. By the way, when i say 5 years on...i mean 5 years from the incidents described in the previous chapter, just so there is no confusion. Not much more to say except thanks for all the support and I hope you enjoy the end of my story…

* * *

Chris got off the bus and into the glaring sun light which made him squint hard. The setting sun, more ferocious than ever. He pulled his cap over his eyes and walked down the sidewalk, sweat beading on his forehead. Ever since he had to sell his car to get out of jail, he had been taking public transport. But he didn't mind. Come to think of it, ever since that night, where he finally settled the beef he had with Shawn Michaels, a lot of things had changed. Some for the better, some for the worst.

He had to lay low for about one year, until that whole shooting outside Mark's house blew over. Then with the help of Detective Marcy, he had his name cleared for the attempted murder of John Cena. After selling all his clubs and his house, he was forced to take up a legitimate job, working construction for a small construction company. He moved into one of the various project housing districts in the Bronx and lived a simple, but hard life.

"At least it beats jail" he thought to himself as he reflected on his life. That last thought made him snap back to reality and to the reason he was standing in the middle of nowhere, facing a monumental structure, surrounded by barbed wire steel fences up to 40 feet high. It was anybody's guess, why Chris was standing in front of a New York State Penitentiary.

A guard standing at the entranced looked Chris up and down for a few seconds before asking him. "Can I help you sir?"

Chris stood in awe of the massive building. He didn't know why the building was having such an effect on him right now. He had been here before. Many times actually. But today was a special day.

"No I'm fine. I'm just waiting for somebody."

The guard thought no more of Chris and leaned back in his chair, twiddling his thumbs. Chris had his hands in his jeans. He thought of the many times he had been here to visit Adam and Mark. It was the least he could do for them after they sacrificed their freedom, so that he could get his revenge. Every time he thought about it like this, he felt sick. Sick at himself for allowing them to do such a thing. But today he felt no such feeling. In fact, today, he felt nothing. Indifferent. He expected to feel a sense of anticipation and excitement but it just wasn't there. He was in fact going to see his best friend face to face, without a two inch thick piece of fibre glass separating them for the first time in five years. But the past five years had gone by so quickly that he hardly even took notice of it. Maybe it was the stringent routine which he followed pretty much everyday, of waking up, going to work, and returning home dead tired which made the past five years of his life seem like nothing. It was a complete turnaround from his previous life in which every day was a different one. Or maybe it was the sudden change in lifestyle which made his new life seem surreal. There were a few habits which he brought with him into his new job. Being the top dog in his old job, he never had to take orders from anybody. But now, he was just a lowly worker, with his foreman dishing out orders left and right. Chris had been trying hard to shake the habit of talking back to his boss, but every now and again, his big mouth would get the better of him and his boss would dock a weeks pay for running his mouth.

Either way, the feeling of anticipation and excitement wasn't there.

The fact that he would have to wait another year and a half to see Mark in the flesh, took a bit of polish off this faithful day. According to Adam, Mark had another 18 months added to his sentence for kicking the crap out of another inmate because the guy accidentally knocked Mark's food tray off the table and refused to clean it up with his tongue upon Mark's request. But as Chris already found out for himself, 18 months can go by in the blink of an eye.

A smile slowly crept upon Chris' face as he saw Adam emerge from the jail. He was walking across the courtyard slowly but purposefully, and he too had a sly grin on his face. As reached the final barrier separating him form the free world, the guard who had spoken to Jericho earlier stood up. Without even looking at him, Adam handed him the release papers. He continued to look straight ahead at Chris. The guard skim read the paper and threw it on his desk in the guard house. He took out his keys, and opened the gate to allow Adam out. Adam stepped out of the prison and found himself in a bear hug from his significantly stronger than before best friend.

"Geez…You're crushing…me."

"Hahah." Chris laughed as he let him go. "What's the matter? Prison turn you into a pussy? I thought it was supposed to harden you."

"Yeah well. Maybe I'm not as much into male intimacy as you are." Adam joked.

"Oh? Some big beefy biker turn you into his new best friend in there?"

Adam just smiled. There wasn't anything in the world which could have brought him down from cloud nine at the moment.

"Hey the bus comes in five. We better start walking to the stop." Chris said, snapping Adam somewhat out of his bliss.

"Bus? Where the hell is my limo?"

Both men just laughed.

* * *

During the bus ride, they continued to joke around and laugh. Both were just happy to see each other again. Adam was on parole, so he would have to be back at the half way home before sunset. They had a few hours to spare, so Chris asked if they could make a pit stop somewhere, before going to the bar for a few drinks. Adam couldn't care less where they were going, so they both got off a few stops earlier than scheduled. As they walked along the deserted street, silence overcame both men. Adam realised where they were heading to and decided now wasn't a time to make a joke.

"How long has it been?" Adam finally asked somewhat sombrely.

"A long time. Just over six years I think." Chris replied. He looked at Adam. He showed distinct signs of ageing. His movements were slower. More deliberate. His face had aged years faster than it should have while he was in prison. His now short hair revealed the many stress lines on his forehead. He still looked the happiest he had ever been.  
They reached their destination and Chris opened the small, rusty gate which had a sign on it that read 'Crescent Avenue Cemetery'.

Both men walked in and Adam shut the small gate behind him. They made their way in between the rows of head stones. Adam took his time to look around him. It wasn't a very classy cemetery. Bits of headstone lay strewn on the ground, litter everywhere. It was indeed a grim place, although all cemeteries are by nature quite grim. Chris on the other hand, took no time to take in his surroundings. He knew what everything looked like from his countless visits here. Instead, he walked on, focused on his target, which he knew the location of by heart.

Chris turned left, into another row of graves and Adam followed. Finally, Chris stopped in front of two, modest looking headstones. One read 'Lisa Caroline Thompson' and the other read 'Richard Taylor Jericho. Underneath their names were their dates of birth and dates of death. That was pretty much all of what was on the headstones of his late mother and brother. The flowers which Chris had placed on their graves a few months ago weren't there anymore. Either rotted away and taken by the wind, or stolen hours after he put them there. He didn't care.

"Oh god…" Chris broke down all of a sudden. This had only ever happened once before, at the actual funeral, but other than that, Chris had never cried while visiting his mother and brother.

Adam stood next to him with a look of pure pity on his face. He decided against physically consoling him as this was something Chris needed to face by himself. He needed to let go and he had to do that solo.

"I failed them Adam. I failed them both. I couldn't live up to my brother's expectations and I couldn't look after my own mother. I failed them. I'm a fucking failure." Chris' voice rose to a scream upon his last words.

"Don't say that man. You are far from a failure. Either way, you were going to disappoint one of them." Adam reasoned with Chris. Jericho was now drying his eyes. "You can't try and please everyone all the time. You'll drive yourself into the ground. As hard as it is for you to hear this… it's not about your mother, or your brother. It's about you. You gotta start living for yourself. Trust me Chris. Both of them, they are proud of you. I guarantee it. I'd bet my life, that they wouldn't have wanted anybody else to be their son or their brother. I'd bet my life."

Silence descended yet again, but this time, there wan no need for words to brake it. There was no uneasiness.

"I hope you are. I hope you are proud of me." Chris said quietly to his mom and Rick. "And I hope god has put you in a better place. A place of peace. A place of solace. And I'll be damned if I don't get to see you there. So that you can tell me in person, if you are indeed proud." Chris muttered his final words. He looked up and saw that Adam had wandered a few feet away. He was looking towards the entrance of the cemetary. Chris followed his eyes and saw what he was looking at. John and Torrie were coming into the cemetery. Chris walked up to Adam who was looking none too kindly at John.

"Hey. Go wait at the bus stop okay? I'll meet you there in five." Chris said.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I'll handle this."

Adam nodded without another word and walked off towards the gate. He passed John and Torrie without even a glance. Chris approached the couple slowly. The three of them came face to face.

"Hey Chris." John said.

* * *

(A/N) Wow. That was extremely hard to write. That's what a few months off does to yah. Geez that was crap. And don't any of you try and tell me otherwise cause then I'll know that you're just trying to be nice and I'll start to question all the other praises which you have heaped on me. Well, hopefully I've gotten the rust out of my system and I can make amends in the last two chapters…which should be coming soon so stay tuned! 


	38. 5 years on: Possibilities

(A/N) Hey guys. Hopefully I haven't butchered the ending beyond repair and I can make amends for the previous sub par chapter with this one. I feel I have gotten over my block, and hopefully this chapter comes through easier. Not much else to say except on with the story…

* * *

"Honey, I'm back." Dave called out as he walked in the door. He shut it behind him and continued into the hallway.

"Daddy!" Came a tiny voice belonging to a tiny girl. Dave's two and a half year old daughter came running up to him. Dave stooped down to pick her up. He grunted loudly as he lifted her off her feet, and into his arms. He gave her a peck on the cheek and she started to giggle uncontrollably.

"How's your day been pumpkin? Have you been taking care of your little brother?" Dave asked in his fatherly voice.

"Yes daddy."

"That's my girl. Hey, where's mommy? Is she in the kitchen?"

"I don't know."

"Well what do you know Elaine?" He said, poking her in the stomach, causing another wave of giggles to erupt from her mouth.

"I know that the sky is blue, and two plus two equals four and that tigers have stripes, and so do zebras, and…" the little girl went on.

"Okay okay. Go tell your little brother everything you know." Dave said as he placed his daughter back down on the ground.

"and that elmo is red, and that I like elmo, and that our telephone number is…" her little voice trailed off as she ran into her brother's room.

Dave couldn't hide his smile as we walked into the kitchen.

"Hi honey." Dave said to the blonde women slaving over the stove.

"Hi baby. Dinner will be ready in a bit. Hey can you check on Eric? I think I can hear him crying." His wife asked him.

"Sure babe." Dave replied as he gave her a quick peck on the cheek before heading off to check on his infant son. As he entered his room, Elaine was still going over all the things that she knew. What she didn't know, was that her vast knowledge of things had woken her brother up prematurely. Another thing that she didn't know was that her brother hated to be woken up.

"Elaine, honey, why don't you go watch T.V." Dave said as he picked his son up from his crib.

"Okay." She squeaked and she ran out of the room without another word.

As Dave tried to rock his son back to sleep, he began to reflect on his past. He also began to think about how the past affected his life right now.

It had been 5 years since he had finally freed himself of Hunter's control. It was also 5 years since that love of his life back then, Christy Hemme had ceased to exist. Once Christy had died and he had ultimately killed Hunter, Ric and Randy wanted Dave to take over Hunter's empire. He refused outright. Ric retired from the business, and continues to live a life of luxury which is financed by Randy, who now owns Evolution. All Dave asked was the lease to one of the clubs in Manhattan. With that club and a few hundred thousand dollars donated to him by the now very rich Randy Orton, he opened a gym, which he owns and works in. One year later, he met Camilla in the gym. He was her personal trainer for a few months, but when they realised that they had feelings for each other, he decided to assign her to somebody else so that he could take her out. They fell in love, got married, and had Elaine a year later. Then, two years on, Eric came along and they now live happily ever after. Or as happy as one can be when you lose a loved one. He never did forget about his first love. Dave often dreamed about Christy, the red headed vixen, although he never told his wife Camilla about his old flame. Sometimes he wondered if he was being unfaithful by not telling her. But it was only dreams, he continued to tell himself. It was the times when he wondered what life would be like if she were still alive, that really made him feel like he was cheating. He knew that he loved Camilla very much. Her and Elaine and Eric were the three loves in his life, and he wouldn't trade anything in the world for them. But he never ceased to imagine what life would have been like with Christy. Christy was more outspoken. More spontaneous while Camilla was more timid and conservative. He sometimes wondered how two totally opposite women managed to capture his heart.

He also wondered what his and Christy's children would have been like had they had any. Not that he would have loved them anymore than he does his two right now. But no matter how hard he tried. How hard he strived to push the fiery redhead out of his mind he couldn't. He loved her too much to forget her.

"Hey honey! Dinner is ready!" Camilla called out, snapping him out of his reverie.

"Coming baby!" He called back. He gently laid his son back in his crib and straightened himself out.

"You've got to forget about her. Move on. You've got a family now god dammit!" He said to himself. He shook his head vigorously, as if shaking his head hard enough would somehow shake Christy out of his mind. He rubbed his tired eyes, before making his way to the dinner table.

* * *

Dave sat opposite Camilla, with Elaine on his left in her special toddlers chair. She was swinging her legs as she ate and sang at the same time. Dave however, silently chewed his food, while still thinking of Christy. Left with the aching in his heart, forever wondering what could have been…

Camilla looked at him intently. "Something on your mind baby?"

"No." Dave's head jerked up. "Just wondering."

"Wondering about what?" She asked innocently.

"Um…I was just wondering…what life would have been like…had I not met you…" He replied cautiously.

"Oh? And are you picturing a better or worse life?" Camilla asked, as she put down her fork and wiped her mouth with the napkin beside her. Dave had caught her attention with his daydreaming and the question she had posed was a good one. Dave looked straight at her, motionless. He tried to find an answer inside him. He tried to compare what could have been with what currently was. He decided he wasn't going to lie to her.

"To tell you the truth…I don't know."

* * *

(A/N) OK. Hope you guys are satisfied with Dave's ending. That leaves one more chapter to go. I just can't believe how fast it has gone. It seems like yesturday when i posted my first chapter, unsure of how all of you would react to it. Now, 38 chapters later, the show has almost come to a close. I can't thank you guys enough for all the reviews and support you have given me to help me finish this story. Will have the final installment up soon so keep your eyes and ears open...


	39. 5 years on: Forgiveness

(A/N) Hey everybody. Well this is it. The final chapter in this epic story. I can't believe it is almost over. Anyway, savour the moment, cause this is it. The end… hope you enjoy…

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"Honey! Dinner's ready!" 

The sound of that voice always caused a nerve in John's body to twitch. He found it so annoying sometimes, especially when he was watching the game. But he loved it nonetheless and wouldn't have had it any other way.

"Coming baby! Just give me 10 more minutes! The game is almost over!" John called back."

"Why don't you come into the kitchen and see if I care. When I call you to dinner, you better get your ass in here quick like!" She called back in a mock severe tone.

A smile crept onto John's face. He reluctantly got out of his chair, and slowly trudged into the dining room. Torrie stood behind her chair with her hands on her hips and a fabricated look of crossness on her face.

"Well since you put it that way…"

"Yeah you're damn right I put it that way." She scolded him.

John just laughed as he pulled the chair back and sat in it.Torriesat down opposite him and began to eat. None of them said anything for awhile, which was unusual. Usually they both chatted each other's ears off, but today, John was reminiscing. It had been about six years ago since they had broken up over that Rick Jericho incident. 5 years since they got back together again after his near death experience. Since then, everyday had gone by so quickly for John. At first he thought his new lifestyle would bore him. He was always one to love the hands on approach. Well he got just that upon an unexpected arrival.

After all the legal mumbo jumbo had blown over with the trials and what not over his stabbing, John sold all his night clubs upon Torrie's request. With all the capital that he gained from the clubs, he bought a number of house across New York and rented them out to tenants in order to keep the money flowing in. All legit. 4 years into his new life, the most amazing thing happened.

"Oh damn." Torrie said, making him snap out of his reminiscing.

"Sorry?" John said, unaware of what she actually said.

"Matthew is crying again. I better go check on him." Torrie said, getting out of her chair.

Matthew. The other love of his life. Coming onto his first birthday soon, Matthew was proving a handful. Sure he missed the excitement and the exhilaration of underground fighting, but every time he saw his little boy laugh or smile, he knew it was all worth it.

Torrie returned to the dinner table and sat back down. John looked at her as if to ask what the ruckus was about.

"Oh he just broke one of his toys. You know how rough he can get when he gets worked up."

John smiled to himself once again.

"You've barely touched your dinner honey. What's the matter? Do you not like it?" Torrie asked.

"What? No. No, it's great. I've uh…I've just been thinking that's all." John said as he forked a bit of mash potato into his mouth albeit unenthusiastically.

"Oh? About what?"

"You know…everything and nothing. Stupid stuff." John said in a off handed way.

"Oh come on. Don't clam up on me now…"

"I've just been thinking about these past few years. I mean everything has been happening so fast. Matthew was a pleasant, but unexpected surprise. We're getting married in a few months. I mean are we going too fast?"

Torrie thought about what he was saying for a minute. She looked at the white gold ring on her finger with a 1 and a half carat diamond smack bang in the middle.

"Well… I think if it feels right, it's right. And if we go by that rationale, then Matthew was definitely right. As for getting married, I think that's right too. I mean we both love each other and that's all that matters. So no, I don't think we are moving too fast." Torrie stated.

John thought about it for a moment. He looked into Torrie's eyes and decided that she was, ideedright.

"Yeah I guess you're right." He said with a smile. Torrie smiled too.

"It's just that it's been such a long time since that whole Rick Jericho and Shawn Michaels incident. Except to me, it feels like just yesterday. That's why I thought maybe we were moving a little too fast. But no, you're right. As long as we love each other, I think it will work out." John said.

Torrie nodded slowly. She had a pensive look about her. Like something John had said made her backtrack.

"You know..." Torrie started slowly."I've always wanted to leave all that stuff behind us…but I feel like we still owe an apology to Chris."

"Look. I feel the same way too. But he must have gone into hiding, or skipped the country, or put into a witness protection program or something. Because I tried to find him, remember?"

"Yeah…I know." Torrie replied in a defeated tone. "It's just that I feel that was the only thing which needed to be done before we could move on, and we still haven't done it."

John could see that this was eating away at Torrie, and he would probably never hear the end of it if he didn't resolve it.

"Alright. If you want, tomorrow I can call a private detective or something to try again, but I wouldn't hold your breath."

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As John drove his car down the main street, he stole a quick glance to his right. He tried to read Torrie's mind through her expression, but found that he couldn't. She sat back in her chair, her face emotionless. Matthew was strapped up in the back seat and he started to show signs of stirring. John took his foot off the gas and continued on at a steady pace. 

"What's on your mind?" John asked.

Torrie continued to stare off into the distance, as if lost in her own thoughts. She did however, hear John's question, and straightened to answer it.

"I wonder how he is going to react. I mean it's been such a long time. I wonder if he'll accept it."

"Whether he accepts our apology or not, is not the point. The point is we tried to make things right again, and if he's too stubborn to accept it, well then he can live the rest of his life out in bitterness." John replied insightfully.

"Yeah, but how are we gonna explain how we tracked him down? Are we going to tell him about the private investigator?"

"If he asks, then yes. If not, I don't see a problem with withholding that piece of trivial information from him."

Torrie remained silent for a while. She was running through, in her head,all the possible scenarios of how their visit could go. The majority of them didn't bode too well.

"You better pick it up honey. He mightn't be there for very long. We could miss him." Torrie said.

With that, John picked his speed up to just over the speed limit.

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The extremely sunny afternoon which had started the day, had now dissipated and dark, ominous clouds covered the sky. The temperature had dropped significantly, and a slight breeze had picked up, making the branches sway side to side. John and Torrie walked hand in hand towards the cemetery from which their private investigator had called from, about half an hour ago. John and Torrie were hoping that Chris had not left the cemetery yet and they walked on at a fast pace. As they reached the gate, they saw Chris along with another man standing in the cemetery. Chris had his head bowed. They opened the small gate and stepped inside the gloomy burial ground, which was made even gloomier by the dark clouds in the sky which now blocked all rays of sunlight. The other man beside Chris, who John identified as an extremely aged Adam Copeland, had taken notice of them and made it clear by the look on his face, that they were not welcome here. But they were determined to do what they came here to do. Finally, Chris lifted his head and became aware of their presence as well. He said something to Adam, and Adam began walking towards them. He walked past them without saying a word, or even a sideways glance. John and Torrie made their way towards Chris, who was also approaching them. The three came face to face among a row of newer looking headstones. Since Chris showed no signs of breaking the ice, and Torrie looked extremely nervous, it was up to John to say the first words. 

"Hey Chris."

Chris nodded his head slightly in acknowledgement. "John."

"So…how've you been for the past five years? It's been about 5 years hasn't it?" John went on.

"Look just cut the crap. I know you didn't come here to visit any loved ones. This place is too cheap for you. Which means you must have come here to see me. And I also know that you didn't come here to chat so you obviously want something. But if you really want to know how I've been for the past five years, I'll humor you. I've been shit. Life has been fucked up, okay? I got a shit job that barely buys my daily meals. I live in a piece of shit housing district that may as well be a dumpster. Life is shit." Chris said bluntly.

John decided it was best to let Chris cool off for a minute before stating his case. After a slight pause, during which Chris' breathing returned to somewhat of a normal pace, John made his reply. "Look Chris. You're right. We did come here because we want something from you." Torrie cut in.

"We want you to accept our deepest apologies from the bottom of our hearts. Honestly Chris. We're sorry."

Chris had a look of disgust on his face. "What, you need your girlfriend to come and apologize to me for you John? You're not man enough to do it yourself. Well I say you and Daisy Duke over here can take your apology back to your 4 story mansion, and stick it up your ass, cause I got no use for it."

John gently pulled Torrie back and stood infront of her in a protective impulse reaction. "Look. There's no need to take your animosity out on her okay? It's me you got a problem with, you take it out on me." John shot back angrily. Chris looked as if he was going to do just that and take a swing at him, but restrained himself, seeing that there was little point.

John continued in an angry tone. "Now I'm not saying we should hug and become best friends, and maybe go out for a beer later, but I do want to put all this shit behind us. It's not doing you any good, lingering on the past."

"You don't tell me what's good for me and what isn't okay? I suppose killing my brother was good for me. What, did you think that picking him off would help me climb the ladder to success? Was that your idea of lending a helping hand?" Chris shot back sarcastically.

"You know that's not true Chris. I swear to you, if there is anything that I could take back in my life, it would be putting my trust in Shawn. It was him that killed your brother, and it was him that almost killed me. I apologize for screwing your brother over and I apologize for contributing to his death. But I tried to stop Shawn from doing it. I just want you to know that."

"Well obviously you didn't try hard enough. I mean I am here right now, visiting my mom and brother in a fucking cemetery, aren't I? But anyway let's try and forget about all that shall we." Chris suggested in a mocking tone. "Did you seriously think that your apology would mean anything to me? No matter the pieces ofshit still stuck to it from where you pulled it out of. Did you think I could just forgive and forget, all because of a 'heart felt apology'?"

John threw his hands up in exasperation. "Come on honey let's go. We tried." John gave up. He turned around to leave but Torrie held him back.

"Well…" Torrie asked, looking into Chris' eyes. "Will you?"

Chris stood there for a moment, a bit taken aback by Torrie'snaive question. Looking more at John than at Torrie, he answered her question.

"I can't forgive you for what you've done. I acknowledge that it wasn't all your fault, but you are part of the reason why I'm standing here right now. I can't forget either. Rather I refuse to forget. Because my mom and my brother are better than that. They will not be forgotten. Not by me at least." Chris took a second to gather up the willpower to force the next few sentences out of his mouth. As silly as it seemed, saying what he was about to say, letting go of his animosity, was one of the hardest things Chris could ever remember doing in his life. "But I will let go. As far as I'm concerned, there never was and never will be anything between me and you. I will put you out of my mind and out of my life forever. And that is the best I can do for you."

John nodded, his face expressionless. Torrie didn't seemed satisfied, but realised that was the best she was going to get out of Chris. She found she wasn't really surprised either. In the end, it was better than she expected. John released Torrie's hand, and stepped forward, hand extended. Chris seemed reluctant to take hold of it, but stepped forward and shook John's hand. It wasn't a friendly shake, but they weren't trying to crush each other's hand either. It was more of a silent farewell, to which both men would be parting ways for the final time.

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(A/N) Well there it is. The big finale. The standing ovation. The crowd going wild. Hehehe… I wish. But on a more serious note, that is, most definately the end. I hope youliked it.

Wow… this story has gone by so fast. It's been hard, but you guys got me here, and I can't thank you all enough. Seriously, the support and all the kind words that you had for me will not be forgotten. I appreciated every single review and I thank you for spending the time to share your thoughts with me. Whether you reviewed once, or after every single chapter, I loved them all and I love you all ;)

To be perfectly blunt with you all, I think this is the last wrestling fic you will get out of me. I have stopped watching wrestling all together (Ever since they released Jericho… coincidence…I think not.). So thanks again everyone. I can't thank you all individually, cause it would just take too long, but you guys know who you are and I thank you again. So i hope you guys all enjoyed my story, stay healthy, stay happy and this is Justin… signing out.


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